Damaged
by xhappily-randomx
Summary: Amu's been part of an all-girl gang in her neighbourhood for over a year now, but she has to leave the group behind when her mother gets a new boyfriend and they move into his house in another city. But can she really leave that life behind? AMUTO!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I'm starting a new story! Woopee! Lol. Um, yeah. I don't really know where I got the idea for this one... But I felt like writing it because it'll be kinda different from most of the other stories I write. It's more... angsty (yes, I know that's not a real word). Haha.**

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Ikuto sat outside his school on the ledge of the fountain. His school was Seiyo High. The lot was rather big. There was a basketball court behind him, a soccer field to his right, and a greenhouse to his left. The school building was large as well, containing three full-sized gyms, a swimming pool, classrooms, science labs (for chemistry, physics, and biology), and various rooms for different clubs.

At the moment Ikuto was eating lunch with his friends Fujisaki Nagihiko, and Sohma Kukai. Nagihiko had long purple hair that went down to his waist and light brown eyes. He was rather slim, almost like a girl. He was part of the basketball club and the Japanese dance club. Kukai had coppery-coloured hair and green eyes. He was very athletic and the captain of the soccer club. All three of them were in the twelfth grade.

"Did you hear? Hinamori Amu just got accepted here," whispered a blonde girl who was sitting on a bench not too far away from Ikuto. This caught his attention. Someone newer than him was transferring here. Ikuto had just gotten here last year.

"No way!" gasped her friend. "Not _the_ Hinamori, the one who-"

"Oi, Ikuto, are you listening?" Kukai asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?" Ikuto asked. However, his mind was still on the two girls' discussion. Why was that one girl so surprised that some girl was going to be going here soon?

"We decided to go see a movie tonight," Nagihiko answered.

"So, are you coming?" Kukai asked.

"Yeah, sure," Ikuto replied absently. "Do you guys know who Hinamori Amu is?"

"She's a girl from one city over. She's in some gang," said Kukai.

No wonder those girls were surprised she was coming here. Ikuto wondered how she even got accepted into this school. You had to have a pretty high score on the acceptance test to be admitted.

Nagihiko nodded. "There are a lot of rumours about her, like the one where she beat up her school's entire boy's football team singlehandedly," he told them.

"Why would she do that?" Ikuto asked in confusion.

"Apparently they whistled at her as she walked by," answered Nagihiko gravely.

"She may be a cruel girl, but she's supposedly very hot," Kukai grinned. "Shoulder length pink hair, big honey brown eyes, skinny, nice legs."

"Not like it matters, she'd probably beat you up if you looked at her," Ikuto snorted.

Kukai looked like he was going to come up with a comeback, but Nagihiko interrupted him. "Why are you asking anyways?" he asked.

"Those girls over there," Ikuto nodded in their direction, "said she just got accepted here. I guess you can find out who'd win in a fight after all Kukai." Kukai's cocky grin instantly disappeared.

"Amu-chan, could you grab these two boxes? Rito's inside, so you can just ring the doorbell and he'll let you in," said Midori. This woman was Amu's mother. Her short brown hair was tied back into a messy ponytail because she was in a rush to finish getting their stuff together this morning. She looked tired, but also very happy. Her dark brown eyes were sparkling.

Amu, on the other hand, was quite the opposite of happy. She was mad. "Whatever," Amu muttered and grabbed the boxes. She rang the front doorbell of the house. It was quite a bit bigger than her house, and the landscaping was nicer (the front had a nice little field covered with flowers and a curved driveway), but it wasn't _her_ house. She didn't want this house. Not that she had a choice in the matter.

"Ah, Amu-chan, you're both here then, good," Rito greeted her. He was a man in his early forties with dark brown hair and light green eyes. She'd only met Rito once before this, but in Amu's opinion he was annoying, and way too damn happy to see her. She'd have to fix that.

"Here," Amu shoved the boxes into his outstretched arms – arms that were expecting a hug he'd never get. "And don't address me like we're close."

"Then what am I supposed to call you?" he chuckled.

Amu frowned and felt a jolt of anger stir in her. It was like he thought she was joking. "Nothing actually, I'd prefer it if you didn't talk to me at all," she said.

His smile faded into a blank expression. Good. She'd done her job.

"Rito," Midori called warmly as she came into the house. She put her box on the floor, as did Rito and the two of them hugged.

Amu turned away quickly before she could see them do anything else disgusting. She mentally cursed at the two of them.

"Amu-neechan," said a high-pitched girly voice. Amu looked down to see a young girl with curly light brown hair and brown eyes staring up at her. She was wearing a frilly blue dress with a white ribbon around her waist. The girl looked to be about six.

"Ew," Amu mumbled to herself. Not only did she have to deal with her mother's boyfriend, she also had to deal with his daughter? No one had even told her that he had a kid. This sucked.

"Amu-neechan, aren't you going to ask me my name?" the girl asked.

"No, I'm not going to ask you your name, because I could care less. And I'm _not_ your sister," she told her.

The girl's eyes widened as if Amu had just crushed all her hopes and dreams. Whatever. The kid would get over it.

"I want to go to my room," Amu demanded.

"Up the stairs, third door on the right," said Midori.

Amu slammed her bedroom door closed just as she heard Ami start to cry. As she looked around her room Amu was shocked by what she saw.

Her walls were a light pink.

Her. Walls. Were. _Pink._

Why in the world would anyone think it would be a good idea to paint _her_ walls _pink_? Amu wasn't girly. She had more of a cool, punk style. Pink could be okay in small doses, but having it all over her room made her want to throw up.

Someone had also arranged all the furniture in her room for her. She hated everything. She'd have to re-paint the walls and re-arrange all the furniture. Amu dropped her backpack on the floor and thought about what she was going to do with all of her stuff.

Amu first decided to move the bed from the wall with the balcony to the opposite wall (which would be on the left as you walked through the door). She grunt with effort as she pulled it forwards, turned it one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and placed it where she wanted. She put her side-table on the right side of the bed. Next she moved her vanity to the same wall as her bed, and her work desk and chair to the wall in front of the door. Beside that she placed a tall lamp. The only things left were her big wavy purple circle carpet, a beanbag chair, and a cork board that she put pictures on. Amu spread the carpet out in the centre of the room, placed the cork board on the wall that contained both her door and closet, and the beanbag chair in the centre of her carpet.

The room was at least decent now. Other than the pink walls. There were a couple of final touches that needed to be made. She unpacked the various boxes of stuff that were scattered around her room. She plugged her alarm clock into the wall and put it on her bedside table, and put her laptop on her desk along with a container full of pens, pencils, and erasers.

From one of the boxes she took out a folder full of pictures. There were various ones of her and her friends from their gang. There were three of them, Amu, Min, and Asura. Min was only 5'1, and she had short curly light blue hair and dark brown eyes. Asura was blonde and her straight hair went half-way down her back. Her eyes were dark blue. The most distinguishing thing about her was the white scar that ran across her right cheek.

The girls had never done anything _too_ bad; mostly just spray painting graffiti, sometimes messing up properties (like smashing mailboxes or throwing rocks through windows), stealing small things from stores, and the occasional fight to defend their "territory." The fights were always pretty easy. The girls were tough, and most other people sucked at fighting. They left baring only a bruise or two and sometimes minor cuts.

In one picture the three of them had rolled up their long sleeves and flexed their arm muscles. They looked just like normal girls who decided to take a silly picture. Another one was of their wrists, where they had all painted a little white dove during art class. The dove had somehow become their symbol. None of them quite remembered how.

Looking at the pictures made her laugh so much that she wanted to cry. She couldn't be friends with them anymore, now that she was no longer part of their gang. She was going to miss them so much. She stuck two pictures to the cork board, and stored the rest in her closet.

The other pictures were of her as a child with her parents, some of just her parents together, and one that was taken when she was thirteen and her dad had made her sit on Santa's lap in a mall for a picture. She hung up a couple of those as well.

There was nothing left to do now other than go to sleep. Amu looked at her clock, hoping it was later than what she thought it was.

Nope. It was only 6:32. That was _way_ too early to even think about going to sleep.

There was a knock on her door. "Amu-chan, can I can come inside?" Midori asked.

"Sure," answered Amu. She didn't really want anyone around right now, but she couldn't exactly tell her mother to go away.

"I brought you some dinner," said Midori as she opened the door and stepped inside. She was carrying a plate full of rice stir fried with vegetables and beef. If she noticed that Amu had re-arranged all the furniture she didn't mention it.

Amu took the plate from her without a word of thanks. Why should she thank her for _anything_ after she dragged Amu all the way out here? She sat down on her beanbag and dug into her food.

"How do you like the room?" she asked.

Amu swallowed a mouth full of food. "Hate it," she said. Midori's expression turned sad. "Why did you let that man paint my walls pink?"

"Amu, he has a name."

"Not like I care," Amu whispered.

"And he was just trying to be nice," she answered. "If you want, we can re-paint the walls."

"I want blue paint," Amu decided. "And I'll do it all myself, to avoid mistakes,"

Midori closed her eyes and her face tensed up. She squeezed her fist into a tight ball before she opened her eyes again. Amu rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she'd said anything worse than she had before. Midori left without saying another word.

Now all Amu had left to do was sit and wait.

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**Okay, so I know that Amu and Ikuto didn't actually meet in this chapter, but they will in the next one. I promise. So please review? ^-^**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay! 2****nd**** chapter! And it's a longer chapter (10 pages)! Hooray!**

**I'm done all my exams for school now! I'm so happy! Now I don't have to go back to school until Tuesday February 2****nd****! :D WOOOOO!!!!!**

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Amu woke up to the horribly annoying beeping of her alarm clock. She struggled out of bed, and ended up dragging her blankets with her. She turned her alarm clock off and relished in the delightful silence.

She blinked her eyes open to take in her surroundings. One thing in her room was off. There was some outfit that she'd never seen before in a plastic clothing bag on top of her beanbag chair. On top there was a stick note that read 'Amu, these are your new uniforms for school. You can choose to wear either one. – Love, mom."

The first outfit consisted of a long-sleeved white button-down shirt, a red and black plaid skirt, a red tie, and a black jacket. The second was a short-sleeved black mini-dress with a waist that corseted at the front, and a pair of black over-the-knee socks.

Amu changed into the first outfit. She disliked it as much as she disliked her room. She looked in the mirror to see what she could do to improve it. First she loosened her tie, and then Amu rolled the cuff of the sleeves of her white shirt over the arms of the black jacket. She left her shirt un-tucked and put a black belt around her waist. She picked out a pair of sparkly black suede flats for shoes.

"Amu-chan, come have some pancakes for breakfast," Midori called as Amu came jogging down the stairs.

_There isn't a chance in hell that I'll go eat breakfast with you, that man, and his daughter,_ she thought. Amu left the house without saying anything back to her mother.

The day was too blue and pretty to be cooped up in school. But her first day of the school was the one day she couldn't skip. If she did, her mom would throw a fit. So she'd have to suffer through the whole day today.

"What's with the haircut? It's so short you look like a boy," said a tall girl with dark green hair that went down to her waist. She had straight cut bangs. Her voice was high-pitched and snotty. Behind her stood a girl with light brown hair that was just above her shoulders. They were both wearing the mini-dress style of the Seiyo High School uniform.

The two girls were mocking a third, younger girl. She was in the same uniform as Amu. Her hair was dark brown and styled into a short boy cut hairstyle. She certainly didn't look like a boy though. Her facial features were soft and feminine. The girl looked very intimidated by the other two.

Normally she would've just walked right by, but they were blocking the way (plus that green-haired girl had _the_ most annoying voice she'd ever heard).

"Oi, you're in the way. Move it," Amu commanded.

"And who do you think you are that you can tell us what to do, bubblegum?" the green-haired girl demanded.

That made her angry. "Hinamori Amu," she spat.

The eyes of all three girls widened in surprise. "L-let's go Maiku," said the green-haired girl.

"Okay Mei-chan," her friend agreed.

The two of them walked quickly away, never looking back.

Amu was starting to walk away when a voice stopped her.

"U-um... H-H-Hinamori-senpai..." The girl with the short brown hair was talking to her. Amu sighed and waited for her to finish.

"H-Hinamori-s-senpai, I... I..." she stuttered.

"What?" Amu asked harshly.

"Th-thank you, Hinamori-senpai!" she blurted out quickly. The girl looked both scared and embarrassed

"You're kidding, right? You were in the way as well," Amu responded scornfully. She shouldered her way past the kid and continued on towards the school.

"Kukai! Ikuto-kun! Hi!" Utau yelled out as she ran down the school hallway. Utau was Kukai's girlfriend of two years now. She had very long blond hair that was tied up into two high ponytails (and even then it still went past her waist), and light purple eyes. She was slender, and five feet six inches tall. She was really pretty, but she definitely wasn't Ikuto's type.

Utau threw her arms around Kukai and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He had a stupid grin on afterwards. "Where's Nagihiko-kun?" she asked.

"I don't know, probably at some club meeting," Ikuto answered.

"Oh! Kukai, I was wondering..." Utau started to ramble on about something she wanted to do on her and Kukai's date this weekend.

Ikuto's attention flickered elsewhere when he heard the name Hinamori Amu mentioned.

"Hinamori Amu? Really?" asked a tiny brunette girl. She was talking to another brunette girl, but this one was taller and had really short hair.

Short-hair nodded and then said, "Yeah. I bumped into Meiyuko and her groupie this morning and... Well, you know how mean they can be. Then Hinamori-senpai walked over to us, and she told them to move out of the way, which got Meiyuko mad. So Meiyuko said 'Oh yeah? Who do you think you are?' Hinamori-san responded – in this challenging voice – 'Hinamori Amu.' And it scared both of them away!"

"Wow! That's amazing!" Tiny enthused. "So I guess she's not really as bad as they say then."

"Uh, well..." Short-hair hesitated. "Afterwards I thanked her and she said, 'Are you kidding? You were in the way too.' Then she kind of pushed me to the side and walked away."

"Ikuto? Why are you staring at those two girls?" Utau asked. Her voice jolted him back out of an eavesdropping coma. "Unless... you don't _like_ either one of them, do you?" She gave him a suggestive grin.

"No. They were talking about Hinamori Amu," Ikuto said.

"Hinamori Amu? Why would they be talking about her?" she wondered.

"Didn't you hear? She got accepted into Seiyo, or so the rumour goes," Kukai told her.

"Eh?" Utau said in surprise. "How did she manage that? Isn't she like, a gang girl?"

Suddenly the hallway got really quiet. Everyone turned to the left, and then everyone started whispering. Hinamori Amu was walking down the hall. And she _was_ every bit as hot as Kukai said she was. Her legs in particular were very nice and long.

"She's hot," Ikuto whispered.

"See? I told you," Kukai whispered back, which got him elbowed in the stomach by Utau. "Ouch."

"You're Hinamori Amu, right?" a rather bold guy asked her, and put his arm on her shoulder. Ikuto could almost see anger coming off of her in flames. She grabbed his hand and turned around to face him, twisting his hand around at the same time. "Ow! What the hell!?" He exclaimed.

"Touch me again and you lose the hand," she said threateningly. The guy backed away immediately, muttering angrily to himself.

"Although she's a little rough, I do have to applaud her for her girl power." Ikuto jumped around, startled by the voice. Rima stood behind him. She was so little that she could sneak up on him all the time, only 5'1 to his 5'11. She was cute, almost like a little doll. Her flax-blonde hair was long and wavy and went down to her waist. Her eyes were big and golden brown.

"You know, that sounds kind of funny coming from you, in that monotone voice," Utau laughed.

Hinamori Amu passed by and Ikuto found himself staring at her. She glanced at him, and arched her eyebrows as if questioning why he was staring at her. She rolled her eyes scornfully, and looked away.

"It's not polite to stare Ikuto," Rima nudged his arm.

"You were staring at her?" Utau asked in surprise. "Has some girl – albeit as weird as the girl is – finally caught Tsukiyomi Ikuto's eye?"

"No, Hinamori Amu hasn't 'caught my eye,' as you put it," he responded. Although he had to admit she was something. And not to mention she was hot. She was... different. Maybe he even found her interesting. Not that he'd ever admit that to Utau of all people.

"Ikuto, aren't you ever going to get a girlfriend?" she sighed. "Why don't you like _any_ of the girls here?"

Ikuto thought for a second before replying. "The girls here are boring."

"Hey!" shouted the two girls.

"Uh, excluding you two of course. I thought that was a given," he said. Luckily they seemed to accept that. If they hadn't he would've been in a big mess of trouble. "And why are you bothering me when Rima doesn't have a boyfriend either. Or Yaya for that matter."

Yaya was another one of their friends. She was 5'3, and acted like a little kid hopped up on sugar. She always had her shoulder-length orangey-brown hair in little pigtails tied up with bows. Her eyes were brown.

"I hate you so much," Rima shook her head disapprovingly at him.

"Yaya... Well, she almost seems too young to have a boyfriend, doesn't she? And Rima doesn't have a boyfriend yet, but she-"

"Utau!" Rima said sharply and gave her a glare. Her face was flushed.

"What? I wasn't going to give anything away, all I was going to say is that you will soon," said Utau.

"I didn't think you liked anyone Rima," said Kukai.

"I don't!" she snapped.

Nagihiko came up beside them and opened his locker. "Who does Rima like?" he asked.

Nagihiko's only answer was a warning shake of the head from Kukai. Nagihiko didn't ask again. You really didn't want Rima angry at you. She could freeze you out for the rest of her life if she wanted to.

Rima blushed and frowned at Utau. Utau gave her an apologetic look and a helpless shrug.

_So Rima likes Nagihiko? Huh, who would've guessed?_ They were kind of an odd match, but it made sense too. Plus Ikuto kind of had a feeling that Nagihiko liked her as more than a friend as well.

Ikuto scrawled out a note that said 'You should ask him out. I think he likes you too' and passed it to Rima. She looked down at in uncertainly and then stuffed it into her pocket.

"I'm going to get to class, I have to ask the teacher a question before the test starts," Nagihiko said.

"I'll come too, because if you're unsure about something then I probably don't get it either," Kukai laughed. The two of them, Ikuto, Rima, Utau, and Yaya were all in the same class – Class 12 B. Their first period was calculus. "See you guys!"

"Utau, I need to talk to you," Rima said and pulled her away, leaving Ikuto all alone in the hallway.

Ikuto opened his locker and put the books for his first three classes in his bag. Seiyo high had a set schedule for each class with six one hour periods plus lunch. Students weren't given a choice in courses, it was all chosen for them. Students took tests (both personality and aptitude) at the beginning of each year, and from that the school board chose the schedule that best suited you. Kids in the same class all had the same schedule.

Class B's day 1 schedule (which took place on odd days of the year) was calculus, chemistry, biology, lunch, accounting, literature, and gym. The day 2 schedule was biology, marketing, wood shop (for girls it was cooking class), lunch, data, physics, and English.

The locker to his right opened and Ikuto looked around to see who it was. It was none other than Hinamori Amu. He wondered why she would choose the locker right next to his.

As if reading his mind she said, "The office assigned me this locker." She didn't even look at him as she said it. "If it was up to me, this definitely isn't where I'd choose my locker to be."

_Ouch._ In Ikuto's opinion, that was a bit harsh.

"Oh, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't stare at me," she finished.

Ikuto smirked. "Who said I was staring at you?" he asked.

"No one had to say it. It was fairly obvious from your wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and slightly dumbfounded expression," she said.

"How would you know, you haven't once looked up from your locker," Ikuto said.

She slammed shut the textbook she was holding. "What are you, stupid?" Amu asked. She was getting a little bit angry now. It was kind of cute. "Vision is more than just straight in front of you. People can see out of the corner of their eyes as well."

"So you've been watching me this whole time too? Now who's staring at whom?" Ikuto grinned.

Amu blushed a little. "Why would I ever stare at _you_?" she demanded.

"Maybe because I'm so hot?" he suggested.

"Eh?" She blinked blankly at him for a moment. Amu could've expected any answer but that one.

Ikuto started chuckling, her reaction was positively hilarious. And the madder Amu started to look, the harder he laughed. He found that it was fun to tease her.

Amu didn't find anything about it funny. She swung her leg out and kicked him in the shin. Hard.

"_Ow_!" Ikuto exclaimed.

"You're such a jerk!" she yelled.

_He _was the jerk? She just kicked him in the shin!

"Make fun of me again, and I'll kick you somewhere that – believe me – will hurt a _lot_ more than this," she threatened. She stalked off with a frown on her face.

_Well, surprise, surprise... _Amu thought as she walked into her new classroom. _Ten possible grade twelve classes in this school, and I end up in the same one as _him_._ That blue-haired boy was sitting in the second-last row with his feet on the only empty chair in the room.

"Ah, you're Himamori Amu-san, correct?" said the teacher. His hair was messy and a coppery brown colour. His light green eyes were covered with thin wire-framed glasses. He was wearing a light brown jacket, a yellow shirt, and a loose green tie.

"It's Hi_na_mori, sensei," Amu said and rolled her eyes. She saw some kids in the class stifle laughs.

"Of course, Himamori-san. My name's Nikaidou-sensei. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" He gave her a goofy smile.

_Ugh, good teachers are so hard to find._ Amu turned to face the class. "Hi_na_mori Amu. Seventeen. Moved to Yubari from Mikasa."

"Is... that it, Hinamori-san?" the teacher asked awkwardly.

Amu nodded. Giving speeches like those are really stupid.

"Does anyone have any questions for Hinamori-san?" he asked the class. No one raised their hands. "Okay, go ahead and take your seat beside Tsukiyomi-san."

The blue-haired kid from earlier grinned and patted the seat beside him. _So, his name's Tsukiyomi, huh?_ Amu thought as she begrudgingly took the seat next to him. She threw her books down onto the table with a loud bang. Tsukiyomi didn't look at all startled.

"So, we meet again, Amu," he greeted her.

"_Amu?_ Who gave you permission to use my first name? And without an honorific!" she exclaimed. Saying someone's name without an honorific was just about the most disrespectful thing you could do (unless of course you were very close with that person). No one _ever _dared to say her name without an honorific. People weren't even allowed to call her by her first name.

"Alright everyone, open up your calculus textbook to page 352," Nikaidou-sensei instructed the class.

Ikuto ignored Amu and started to take his textbook out of his bag. Amu slammed his hand down on top of his book as he tried to open it.

"Tsukiyomi-san! Answer me!" Amu demanded, talking as loudly as she could without drawing the teacher's attention. In Amu's opinion, boys in general are stupid, but this boy was the biggest idiot she'd ever met. If he didn't show some respect soon he _would_ get slapped.

He gave her a smirk. She would love to slap that smug expression off his face. "So now you want to talk to me?"

"No. I don't want to talk to you. I want just want _you_ to address me – only if you absolutely must address me of course – with an honorific," she said.

"Okay, I'll call you Amu-chan then. And you can call me Ikuto," he grinned.

Amu shook her head. "Absolutely not. You are not using 'chan' to address me."

"Why not? 'Chan' is used to address cute girls. And you're cute," said Ikuto. "So it's either none or 'chan.' Pick one."

Amu gave him a glare to try and cover up her surprise. No one had ever called her cute before. Hot yes, but cute, no.

"Chan."

This school year was going to suck.

"Ikuto-kun! Ikuto-kun!" Yaya lunged forwards and tried to grab at his chocolate pudding. Ikuto quickly snatched it back. "Can I have your pudding?"

Ikuto, Rima, Yaya, Nagihiko, Utau, and Kukai were sitting together outside eating lunch on the bleachers of the soccer field. Ikuto's lunch consisted yet again of various snack foods (including a pudding cup), while everyone else's was something hand-made and delicious-looking.

"No way. I only have one today. And it's _chocolate_," responded Ikuto. He loved anything chocolate flavoured. There was no way he was giving up his only chocolate pudding cup.

"But Ikuto-kun, you _always_ get two puddings and you _always_ give me one!" Yaya pouted.

Yaya had short brown hair tied up into pigtails with big red bows, and light brown eyes. She looked – and acted – like a ten-year-old.

Ikuto had learned early on to either bring two of any dessert to school or to get better reflexes, because Yaya _would_ get her hands on one.

"I'm sorry," Ikuto apologized. "I forgot to grab two today." Yaya's eyes started to pool with tears. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, take it."

Yaya instantly turned happy as she grabbed up the pudding and started to eat it.

"So, Ikuto, what's it like sitting next to Hinamori Amu?" Rima asked.

Ikuto shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's okay." He actually found the girl kind of interesting; she wasn't like anyone else he'd ever met (not that he'd ever say that out loud, everyone would think he was crazy).

"Really? Because she looked pretty mad at you the whole day. Plus she kept whacking your arm," Utau snickered.

"Well, to be fair, I was kind of making fun of her," he admitted.

Kukai laughed so hard that he almost spit out his food. "_You_ were making fun of Hinamori Amu? Yeah right."

"If that was true I'm pretty sure she would've kicked the crap out of you," Rima said. Everyone laughed, including Nagihiko (and he's supposed to be the nice one). Ikuto decided to just let it go. It was easier than trying to explain that he was actually telling the truth.

"So if you _were_ actually making fun of Hinamori Amu – and I'm not saying that you did – what were saying to her?" Nagihiko asked.

"I kept calling her Amu-chan, which seemed to bother her." Ikuto grinned, remembering how she glared at him every time he said it, yet how she was also slightly blushing.

"You called her _Amu-chan_!?" Utau exploded. "And you're _smiling_ too! Do you _like_ her!?"

Ikuto shook his head. "What is with you and your obsession with my dating-life?" he asked.

"Or lack thereof," Kukai snorted.

"Hey look! Ikuto-kun!" Yaya yelled, with her mouth still full of pudding. "There's Hinamori Amu!"

Amu was in the process of sitting down beneath a tree when Yaya started yelling. She looked up at the group with annoyance written all over her face, then turned on her iPod to drown out their noise and closed her eyes.

"Aren't you going to go talk to your _friend_, Ikuto-kun?" Kukai snickered.

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "Fine. You want me to go talk to her? I'll go talk to her," he said. He stood up and walked over to wear Amu was standing. He was pretty sure all of his friends were surprised that he actually left. Good.

"Amu-chan," Ikuto said. When she didn't respond he poked her in the arm. She still didn't acknowledge him.

"Aaaamu-chaaaaan," Ikuto drawled loudly.

Amu slapped her hand over his mouth. "Shh, it's quiet time," she said. Suddenly she withdrew her hand with a squeal. "Did you just _lick_ my hand!?" Amu looked thoroughly disgusted, embarrassed, and annoyed.

"You wouldn't move it, what else was I supposed to do?" he wondered.

She stood up and clenched her fists. She looked angry. "If you don't start running in three seconds, I am _going to kill you_!" Amu yelled.

Ikuto jumped up and stuck his tongue out at her. "You'll have to catch me first!" he taunted her. She took a step towards him and he took off running.

"If I catch you you're dead Tsukiyomi-san!" Amu screamed.

Both of their steps pounded against the ground as she chased him around the soccer field. Ikuto ran around in circles, laughing as she reached for him and missed when he turned. They ended up on the opposite side of the field when she finally caught him. Amu managed to grab onto his blazer and pulled to the left, causing him to stumble back against the wire fence. He was still laughing.

"Why are you still laughing?" she demanded. She cracked her knuckles, making her seem a lot more threatening.

"Come on, you're not really going to hurt me," he said.

"You want to bet?" Amu shoved her face close to his. It was probably supposed to be intimidating, but Ikuto really couldn't see it that way. Amu was just too... small, and cute for it to work. And her face being about an inch from his was more distracting than intimidating. She had a really nice mouth...

Amu interrupted him from his thoughts. "Apologize or I'll punch you in the stomach," she threatened.

"I'm sorry," he responded. She punched him anyways. And it hurt like hell. "Ow," Ikuto moaned. "You punch _really_ hard."

Amu let out a huff and speed-walked away, leaving Ikuto doubled-over by the fence. He was in pain, yet he still couldn't get the image of Amu's face being that close to his out of his mind. The only conclusion he could come to was that he was starting to like Hinamori Amu (and she seemed like a dangerous person to like).

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**Thanks for reading everyone! Please, **_**please**_** review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone! I'm back with a third part. ...And I'm back at **_**school**_**! Dun, dun duuuun..... LOL. I don't like school, but this semester isn't too bad. At least not yet. The only course I'm worried about is English and that's just because we have to do a big presentation at the end and I just **_**hate**_** presenting (public speaking is the worst! .). Haha, so anyways, enjoy part 3! ^-^**

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Amu swung open the door to her house and stomped inside. Today was so tiring. She wanted nothing more than to just lie down in bed and sleep. But no. She had a good five hours of homework to complete for tomorrow. Was this school trying to bore her to death!? It wasn't like any of the material to be completed was hard, but it would be very time consuming and pointless. Oh well, she wasn't planning on doing it all anyways.

"Ah, Amu-chan. Welcome home. I'd ask you how school went, but I'm the middle of figuring out what to cook for dinner right now. We'll talk about it later, okay?" said Midori. She was standing in the kitchen with a mess of cookbooks on the counter all around her. She was flipping through all of them at once. It was pretty weird. Amu didn't understand why this dinner was such a big deal.

"Yeah, sure," Amu responded. Actually, she didn't want to talk about it at all. She hated school. Especially this school. It was so... snooty. Everyone thought they were so smart and privileged for getting into some stupid private high school. It wasn't even hard to get in.

Amu turned and left, heading up the stairs for her bedroom. Her mom still hadn't bought any paint to redo the pink walls. She sighed and threw her book bag onto her desk. Now she had to decide which of her subjects to do first – or at all. Calculus was easy for Amu, and she had no problems with today's lesson, so she wouldn't do that homework. And Accounting is basically common sense. So that left her with chemistry, biology, and literature.

By about 6:30 she had completed all the homework she planned on doing and her mom had called her downstairs for dinner. She took the seat next to her mother and across from Ami. That guy was sitting across from her mother. Amu still refused to acknowledge that he had a name.

"So, Amu, how was your first day of school at Seiyo High? It's supposed to be a very well renowned school," Midori said.

"It wa-"

"Amu! Don't speak with your mouth full!" her mother scolded her.

Amu swallowed then said, "It sucked." Her mother looked down sadly at her plate of food and took another bite. Ami looked up shyly at Amu from under her bangs. She hadn't said anything to Amu since yesterday. When Amu looked at her she quickly looked away.

"Most of the people there are either jerks, annoying, or stuck-up," Amu continued. "The school work's not too bad, but it's _so_ boring. I can't believe I wasn't even able to choose my own courses. How stupid is that?"

"You said _most_ people, does that mean you met anyone you like?" Rito asked.

Why is it _that_ the point he focused in on instead of the part about this school being a complete waste of her time? Amu continued to eat her food, not looking in that guy's direction.

"Amu, Rito asked you a question," Midori gave Amu a tense almost threatening smile. It was almost as if she was daring Amu to make this much worse than it was at this point.

Amu smiled innocently. "I know, and I'm choosing not to answer."

Midori looked almost ready to throw a temper tantrum. "Amu! Answer him this minute," she commanded.

"No." Amu and her mother had their eyes locked onto each other, both of them filled with anger.

"Amu," Midori said warningly.

Amu stood up so quickly that the chair tipped over and smacked onto the floor. "No!" she yelled. "I don't need to do anything just because you tell me to!" Amu turned and started to jog up to her room.

"Amu! Come back here! Right now!" Midori yelled after her.

Amu didn't listen and continued on her way. She slammed her bedroom door closed only to have it reopened a couple seconds later.

"Hinamori Amu, you will go back downstairs and apologize to Rito-kun," Midori instructed.

Amu narrowed her eyes angrily when she added 'kun' to his name. "Why should I? He's _your_ boyfriend, not mine. I want anything to do with him!"

"You will because it's polite, and because I told you to," said Midori.

"No, I won't! I will _never_ be polite to that man! I hate him! I hate this house! I hate this room! I hate this town! And I-"

"Amu! Stop it right now! You have no right to talk to me like this. I'm your mother, and you're living under _my_ roof. You will do as I say."

"And I hate you too!" Amu screamed. "Get out of my room!"

Midori looked at her with wide eyes and then she started to sob. "I don't understand why you're being like this. I love Rito-kun, and I love you Amu-chan. I just want us to be a family."

"We're _not_ a family! You, me, and Papa, _we're_ a family!" Amu was still yelling angrily even though she really wanted to burst out crying. Her mother didn't understand anything!

"Amu, I know you miss and love your father, but so do I! His death didn't just hurt _you_! It hurt me too!" Midori cried. "But I'm starting to move on. I've found someone else that I love and want to spend my life with."

Midori tried to grab Amu into a hug, but Amu pushed her away and stumbled backwards. Unshed tears were now blurring her eyesight, making it difficult to see anything other than the blurry shape of her mother.

"No! That's not good enough for me! You love _Tsumugu_! You can't love _that guy_ too! You're betraying Papa and our family. How could you do this!? _You're_ the one who killed our family! Papa may be dead but he's still my family, and you're just trying to cut him out, replace him with someone else!? _Get out_!" Amu yelled.

Midori's whole body was shaking with cries and tears poured freely down her face. She turned and staggered out of Amu's room.

As soon as she was gone Amu slammed her bedroom door closed and collapsed sobbing onto her bed. She grabbed the framed picture of her father off her nightstand and hugged it to her chest.

"Everything's screwed up Papa! I hate it here! Why did you have to leave?" Amu said, talking to the picture of her father that was quickly turning wet from her tears. She cried harder than she ever had before, letting out previously unshed grief about her father's death, her mother's new life with her new boyfriend, and everything else that had gone wrong since her father had died a little over a year and a half ago.

Amu didn't know how long it was before her crying started to slow down, but it was dark outside now. The stars shone happily in the sky outside her balcony, like bright beacons of light tempting her to go outside and lose herself in the darkness. She wanted nothing more than to sneak out and go visit her father's grave, like she used to do almost every night before she had moved.

The thought that she couldn't see her father's grave whenever she wanted sent another shock of grief through her. Almost everything back home reminded her of times she had spent together with her father, but here there was nothing... Nothing except a few pictures, and an old bottle of his cologne that Amu had stolen from her mother's room when she tried to throw it out. Midori still had no idea that it was in Amu's possession.

Amu took out the cologne from its hidden spot in her sock drawer and took a deep breath. It smelled gross, but it smelled like her father too. She remembered the one time she had tried to convince him to buy new cologne. It had taken a lot of persuasiveness, but eventually he bought a different bottle that actually smelled fairly good. Papa had worn it twice, maybe three times, before he went back to the old cologne. When Amu asked him why he said it was because it was the cologne he wore when he met Midori, and the cologne he wore when they had Amu. Simply put, the cologne reminded him of all the time he had spent in their family. Now it reminded Amu of the same thing, and she was grateful for it.

Amu put away the cologne and stepped out onto her balcony. She shivered and another tear slid down her cheek. There was a tree not too far from her window, and it looked pretty easy to climb up and down. She probably looked horrible with puffy red eyes, but right now she didn't care if anyone saw her like this. She just wanted to escape. At least for a little while.

Amu climbed up onto the banister of the balcony and jumped. She grabbed onto the tree's closest branch and hauled herself up onto it. She eased her way slowly down the tree, careful not to fall. _That wasn't too hard_ she thought as her feet hit the ground. She could do that whenever she wanted to get away.

Without a thought in her head about where she was going Amu took off at a run, trying to leave her sorrow behind. It's too bad that it tends to follow her no matter where she goes...

Rima paced up and down her elaborately decorated bedroom. Her parents had hired a team of decorators to create her bedroom and told them that price was no object, anything that Rima wanted she could have. Items were ordered in from all over the world, a bed from England, a table from morocco, chairs from India... None of it even mattered to Rima. She had to admit that the room was extremely pretty – decorated in rich browns, golds, and creams – but Rima would've been happy with any old room.

She was thinking about earlier today when Ikuto had handed her that note. She could never tell if he was being serious or not. Was this just some cruel joke to embarrass her? Or was he really trying to help her? Was he serious about what he said? Did he even know that he liked her, or was he just guessing?

Rima took the note out of her pocket and read it for about the fiftieth time since she got home. 'You should ask him out. I think he likes you too.' She had yelled at Utau for almost telling everyone and for letting Ikuto know that she had a crush on Nagihiko, but maybe it was all for the better? Maybe now she could get Ikuto to find out for her if Nagihiko likes her too.

Although maybe she should just call him and ask him... But the thought of telling him was so scary that she wasn't sure if she could go through with it. _Come on,_ Rima thought to herself. _You're not some scared little girl. You're Mashiro Rima. You can do this!_

Rima flipped open her cell phone, typed in Naghiko's phone number (that she's had memorized for quite some time now), and then dropped it in surprise when there was a knock at her door.

She took a calming breath and said, "Yes? Who is it?"

"Dinner is ready Rima-sama. Your parents will be joining with you tonight," said one of the maids from the opposite side of the door.

Rima blinked in surprise. Her parents rarely ever joined her for dinner. Usually they were either working, our out of town and working. In fact, Rima hadn't known that they had come back from Tokyo. She thought it strangely ironic that her parents paid millions of dollars to buy and furnish their house plus the money to staff it with maids, butlers, cleaners, and a cook, yet they were seldom here to enjoy it.

She used to be so happy and excited when they came home, but her hope for spending any quality had long ago dwindled. It didn't matter if they were here or not, it was always the same. They lived for their work, and Rima always came in second place. But it was okay, she had accepted that that was just the way things were for her family.

"Thank you. I'll be down in a second," Rima answered. She picked up her phone and stared at it for a few more seconds before throwing it onto her bed, the screen still displaying Nagihiko's un-dialled number.

_I'll just phone him after dinner..._ she told herself.

The Mashiros' dining room was just as expensive and beautiful as Rima's bedroom. Her parents were sitting on opposite sides of the ornate walnut brown table. Both of them were tall, slim people. They were slim because they missed almost all their meals due to work. For some reason though Rima didn't inherit the genes that made the two of them tall.

"Ah, Rima, how was school?" her father asked her. He took the white napkin off the table and laid it on his lap.

"It was fine," Rima answered. "How are you mother, father?" She sat down at the end of the table where the third table setting had been placed.

Just then her mother's phone rang. "One second Rima," said her mother before she answered the phone. "Yes. Yes. Okay, we'll be there in a second."

"I'm sorry Rima but we have to go. A problem's come up at work," her mother said. The two of them got up and gave Rima a hug.

"We'll see you soon," they both said. Rima just nodded in response.

The butler came in with the food, placing a bowl of some sort of soup in front of her. Rima didn't bother to look at the food or even taste it as she ate her meal in silence. Two maids came in afterwards to take away the dishes and clean up the table.

Rima went back up to her room. She saw the phone on her bed and tentatively grabbed it. She didn't even care if she had the nerve to confess to Nagihiko or not now, she just wanted someone to talk to.

Nagihiko was outside practicing shooting hoops. Basketball was his best sport (well, actually it was his only sport, but he was really good at it). His parents were actually hoping that he was good enough to get accepted onto a college basketball team after he graduated. They always pushed him to do his best in everything, but sometimes they pushed too hard.

That was the reason his sister wasn't still here with him. She was his twin, and the two looked so remarkably like each other that one could pass for the other if they put on the other's clothing. Her name was Nadeshiko. She was extremely talented with traditional Japanese dancing, had been since she was six and started dancing. That was what their parents had pushed her to excel at the most. Every day after school she would come home and practice for at least two or three hours.

And then last year a famous dance school had sent a letter to their house, telling them that they were very interested in having Nadeshiko join their school. They had shipped her off almost immediately, not letting Nadeshiko have a say in it at all. Now she was on the other side of Japan and Nagihiko hadn't seen her for a whole year.

The school's tough and very strict. They don't allow outside visitors and students aren't allowed to come home for fear that they'll neglect their studies. They are however allowed five hours of telephone time a week, and students in their last year may go home for holidays.

He really missed Nadeshiko.

Nagihiko jumped and threw the basketball from his hands directly into the net, ran to get the ball, and then repeated the ritual over and over again.

Nagihiko's cell phone rang from within his pocket. He opened the phone and looked at the call display. It was Rima calling him. He smiled happily.

"Hello Rima-chan. Is something up?" he asked.

"Not really I just wanted to know if..." there was a pause on the other side of the line and Nagihiko wondered if his phone had cut off the call. Hopefully not, because then Rima would probably call back and yell at him for hanging up on her. "I was wondering if you, uh, knew the date for the chemistry test."

"Oh, I think it was on Monday," Nagihiko answered. "Is that all?"

"I guess so. I'll see you tomorrow Nagihiko-kun," said Rima.

Nagihiko was shocked that she had added 'kun' onto the end of his name. She'd never used an honorific to address him before. He wondered why she'd start now. "Okay. Good night Rima-chan," said Nagihiko.

Utau was in her bedroom with Kukai. He was sitting in a chair and she was sitting on his lap. They were currently in the middle of a make-out session. Well, they had been until Utau broke away for about the billionth time since they'd started.

"Ikuto _must_ like that Hinamori girl, right? Why else would he bother to... well, bother her?" Utau asked.

"_Utau_," Kukai whined. "Can't you forget about it for now?"

Utau shook her head. "How can I? Ikuto's never liked a girl before. And I'm surprised. Plus he's our friend and we have to help Ikuto get her."

"Honey, are you sure you wouldn't like a snack or maybe some lemonade?" her mother asked from the other side of the door. She was a stay-at-home mom (which just meant that she had no job). She spent her days cooking, cleaning, and shopping. Plus she was always trying to force food onto Utau (and her boyfriend if he happened to be over).

Her father on the other hand was a business man and wasn't home very often. So Utau rarely got to see her father, but her mother was _always_ there (mostly when she wanted to be alone).

"No, we're fine mom!" Utau declined her mother's offer. She had already asked several times since Utau and Kukai had gotten back home from school.

"So...?" Utau asked Kukai expectantly.

"Okay, fine, we'll help," Kukai agreed. Utau gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the lips. He thought she was going to be done with the topic but as he tried to kiss her again she jumped up off his lap.

"There's no time for that now. We have to figure out how we're going to get the two of them together," Utau said.

Kukai gave a heavy sigh. Once Utau got onto a topic it was impossible to get her mind off of it until she did something about it. "Do you have any ideas about how?" Kukai asked.

"Well, first we should make sure that he really does like her. We can make a list of things he did to her and then-"

"Why don't you just ask him?" Kukai suggested.

"Oh. Um, I guess we could do that," Utau said. She blushed a little from embarrassment.

"And we can do that tomorrow right?"

Utau pouted. "I guess..."

"Now can we go back to where we were?" Kukai asked.

"No, it's late. You should go home. Plus I bet you still haven't finished your homework, have you?"

"No," Kukai mumbled in defeat. He shuffled slowly towards the door.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye first?" Utau came over to him and gave him a long, deep kiss. He gave her that goofy, happy smile that he did after every time she kissed him passionately enough. She liked that smile, it was cute. "Now be a good boy and go home and finish your homework." He nodded and left.

Utau sat down on her bed and smiled. She loved her boyfriend.

Ikuto rolled over in his bed. He was oddly restless. Nothing that troubling had happened today. His step-dad had left yesterday and still hadn't come back, which was good. Nothing spoil's the day like a drunken man stumbling back into his home in the middle of the night. Ikuto hated his stepfather. He was a stupid, drunk, jackass. He secretly hoped that one of these days he just wouldn't come back.

He did however love his mother, and they had a good relationship between them. When he came home from school today his mom had even made chocolate chip cookies for him. Chocolate seemed like a basis for a good relationship to Ikuto.

So why was couldn't he fall asleep? The answer was contained in two words. Hinamori Amu. Ikuto had never liked a girl before. Sure, he'd thought certain girls were hot, but most of their personalities annoyed him. He'd never really want to spend any time with them. But Amu... she was completely different from anyone he'd ever met before, and she was interesting.

Ikuto got out of bed. He wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon. He opened the window he always used to get out of his house in the night and jumped through to the outside. Ikuto walked until he reached the park (it was only a few blocks from his house). Usually the park was abandoned at this time, but someone was sitting on a swing. Their back was facing him so he couldn't see who it was.

Ikuto walked around to the other side of the swing set to see who it was. The person looked like Amu... He took a few more steps towards the girl. It really was Amu. Her head was tilted down towards the ground, and she looked quite defeated. She still hadn't noticed him even though he was pretty close to her.

"Amu?" he said.

"Eh?" Amu raised her head up in shock. Her eyes were red and a bit puffy, and her face was stained with tears. She wiped feverishly at her faces, trying to get rid of the tears. "What!?" she snapped.

"Are you... okay?" he asked. He took a seat on the swing next to hers.

"Oh I'm just peachy. Best day of my fucking life," she laughed humourlessly.

Ikuto rocked the swing back and forth. He didn't really know what to say to that. "Family?" he guessed.

"Shut up!" Amu yelled. "You don't know _anything_ about my family." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes again.

"My family's not that great either," said Ikuto.

"I told you to shut up." She gave him a hard glare and got up off her swing. She started to walk away.

"My stepfather gets drunk a lot. And when he does he gets pretty abusive," Ikuto called after her. Amu froze in her place.

"What...?" she whispered.

"He's hit me quite a few times. You know you don't have to be ashamed if your family's not the greatest. Sometimes that's just the way it works out," he told her. He'd never told anyone that before, but it felt oddly good to just come out and say the truth.

She turned around to face him. "Why would you tell me that?" Amu asked. Her face showed major signs of distrust.

Ikuto shrugged. "Isn't it easier to trust someone who shares a common problem? So if you need anyone to talk to..."

"I really don't think it's a problem that can be solved talking to you in a deserted park at midnight," Amu said.

"I guess you might not need to talk. But you _do_ need to be able to trust at least one person in your life, right?"

"I do trust someone," Amu mumbled. "I trust my father." Ikuto probably wasn't supposed to hear that, but he did.

"So it's a problem with your mom then?" asked Ikuto.

"Maybe I have a problem with _you_," she huffed. Looks like he'd gone a bit too far. "Besides, you wouldn't understand. It's not like your problem."

"How would you know unless you tell me?" Ikuto enquired.

"Fine, if it'll get you to shut the hell up, fine! My dad died," Amu told him. She looked like she was trying to keep down tears again. "He only died a year and a half ago! And now my mom has this new boyfriend! Can you believe it, a _boyfriend_! She made me leave my house, my school, my friends. She didn't even _ask_ me if it was okay that she started dating again! In fact, she _lied_ about dating anyone. I _hate_ her! I hate that guy too! I hate it here..."

She was crying again now. Ikuto got up and tried to hug her, but she pounded on his chest with his fist.

"Don't... touch me... pervert," she said in between sobs.

Ikuto rolled his eyes and pulled her tight against his chest. To his surprise she buried her face into his chest and didn't fight back anymore. Her small hands clutched tightly onto the front of his shirt.

"I miss my dad... I miss my home..." she moaned.

"I know," he answered.

"Th-this doesn't mean we're friends," Amu sniffled.

"I know."

"And f you tell anyone about it I'll kick your ass," Amu cautioned.

Ikuto sighed. "I know."

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**Well, that's like a little tidbit of everyone's lives at home. I didn't write one for Yaya though... Because I couldn't think of what to write it about. ^^;**

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please, **_**please**_** review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I'm back with the 4****th**** part of the story. Hopefully you guys like it. ^-^**

**Oh, and also, in the 1****st**** chapter when I wrote down the school schedule I kind of made a mistake and put biology on twice. So, here's the new fixed schedule:**

**Day 1: calculus, chemistry, biology, lunch, accounting, literature, and gym. **

**Day 2: art, marketing, wood shop/cooking, lunch, data, physics, and English.**

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"Ikuto! I demand to know if you like Hinamori Amu or not!" Utau yelled.

Ikuto turned around from his locker to look at her. She had a look of fierce determination on her face that scared him little bit. "Huh? What?" he asked in confusion. He wondered how she even came up with this idea. "And why are you yelling? Everyone can hear you."

Sure enough almost everybody in the hallway had turned to look at them. Utau blushed. "Sorry. But you do like her, don't you?" she asked in a much quieter voice. "You can tell me if you do and I'll help you get her."

Ikuto was doubtful about the idea of telling her, but everyone would find out sooner or later, might as well just come out with it. "Okay, fine, I like her. A little," he admitted. After yesterday though, his for feelings for her had somehow skyrocketed.

"So, you like Amu, huh?" Rima said, making her way to her locker.

"So, you like Nagihiko, huh?" he retorted.

"Touché."

"Here's comes your _girlfriend_," Utau teased.

Ikuto rolled his eyes. "She's not my girlfriend." _Yet_, he thought. "Feel free to go away so I can talk to her."

Rima gave him a glare."Stupid jerk," she muttered under her breath as the two girls walked away.

"Amu-chan!" Ikuto called and gave her a wave.

Amu gave him a critical glance. "What?" she demanded.

"Uh..." Ikuto hesitated. He knew she said that yesterday didn't make them friends, but he was hoping that she was just acting tough and didn't really mean it. "I was just wondering how you were doing."

"I'm fine, not that it's any of your business," she said as she opened her locker.

"Okay, fine," he replied sadly. There must be something he could do to make her open up to him, right? Ikuto took his textbooks out of his locker and walked to class. He looked back at Amu once as he went; she was frowning, almost guiltily.

"Ikuto! Ikuto!" Yaya practically jumped on him as he entered the classroom. "I heard you were talking to Amu-chi, how'd it go?"

"Uh... It was..."

"He blew it," Rima snickered.

"Thanks for that," said Ikuto. He took his seat. He was hoping that everyone would sit down in their seats as well, but...

"He blew it! He blew it!" Yaya sing-songed, while Rima stood around watching just for the fun of seeing his annoyed reaction.

The bell rang just as Amu entered the classroom, and everyone went and sat down at their seats. Yaya was still singing. Amu silently took the spot next to him. She took out her binder and textbook without even looking at him once. Nikaidou-sensei entered a minute later.

"Okay, first of all I'll collect all of your homework from yesterday," said Nikaidou. "And then you can all head into the art room."

Ikuto took his homework out of his bag. It was a rather large stack. He watched as Amu frowned unhappily and placed a stack of papers on her desk that looked too small for all the homework they had yesterday.

Nikaidou grabbed Ikuto's homework, leafed through it, then grabbed Amu's. "Hinamori-san, where's your calculus and accounting homework?" he asked.

"I didn't do it," she replied. This was followed by several gasps and whispers. People _always_ did their homework in this school.

"Why didn't you do it?"

"Homework's supposed to be something you do so that you can learn the material right?" Amu asked.

"Yes, that's right," he nodded.

"And I understood everything that we did before you assigned the homework. Therefore I didn't need to do it. There was no reason for me to spend hours on something that I had already learned," Amu explained.

Nikaidou shook his head. "I'm sorry Hinamori-san, but I'm going to have to send you to the principal's office."

Amu stood up, almost knocking her chair onto the ground. "But I didn't do anything _wrong_! I know the material, you can even test me!" She yelled.

"Not doing homework is against the rules at Seiyo High. Please go to the principal's office," he ordered.

Amu stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door behind her.

_This school sucks_, Amu thought. She was sitting on a chair outside the principal's office, idly swinging her feet. She'd been waiting here for twenty minutes and the principal hadn't come to see her yet. She had started to think that maybe her punishment was just the boredom of sitting here.

Finally the principal came out of the office. She was a tall, slim woman with reddish hair and thin framed glasses covering her grey-blue eyes.

"Please come in Hinamori-san," she instructed.

Amu obeyed, stepping into her small office. The principal closed the door behind them so softly that it barely made a noise. Amu sat down in the only chair available other than the principal's.

"My name's Sanjo Yukari." The principal stuck out her hand and Amu shook it as politely as she could. "So Hinamori-san, why didn't you do all of your homework?"

"Because I already understood the material. I didn't _need_ to do the homework," Amu explained.

"Homework enforces the learning you did during the day, that's why it's mandatory. You need to do _all_ of your homework _every_ night. Tonight you'll stay after school and clean your classroom for a punishment," said Sanjo-sensei.

Amu resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Okay Sanjo-sensei."

"School ends at 3:00 and I'll come by at 3:30 to check what you've done. I expect you to be finished cleaning by then," Sanjo-sensei clarified. Amu nodded. "You'll need to erase and wash the chalkboards, clean the chalkboard erasers, wash the desks, tidy up the bookshelves, and clean the floor."

_How am I supposed to do all that in half an hour!?_ "Okay, sure," Amu agreed. _No wonder everybody wants to finish their homework here, the punishments are impossible to complete._

"Now we'll discuss the importance of completing your work," Sanjo-sensei began. She ranted on and on about how doing homework would help her later in life. In short, it was a bunch of crap and Amu had to tune her out to avoid groaning.

"Do you understand now Hinamori-san?" she asked.

Amu blinked herself out of a trance. "Um, yeah."

"Okay, then get going, you should just make it in time for your second period class."

Amu nodded and left her office. _Wow, she talked to me for almost an hour..._ She sighed and headed back towards her main classroom. Half of her periods were in her homeroom classroom, and the others were in different places. The ones that weren't in the homeroom were biology, gym, chemistry, physics, and cooking.

She saw someone walking past with blue hair. "Ikuto?" Amu immediately slapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it out loud. She crossed her fingers hoping he hadn't heard her.

Ikuto turned around to look at her. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She must seem crazy to him. First she hates him, then she cries and hugs him, the next moment she acts like she hates him again, and now she's calling out to him in the hallway.

_What's wrong with me!?_ Amu mentally screamed.

"Are you talking to me?" Ikuto asked.

"Uh..." Amu hesitated. She didn't quite know what to say. He also started walking closer to her, which didn't help her nerves. She started to blush.

"Aww, I knew you really did like me," He smirked. He threw his arm around Amu and pulled her along with him. Too shocked to do or say anything Amu just went along with him for a second.

"I-I don't like you," Amu argued as she snapped back to her senses. She threw his arm off from around her shoulder. "And why aren't you in class?"

"Bathroom," he explained. "And now I'm walking back. So, what's your impossible punishment for not doing your homework?"

Amu hung her head sorrowfully. "I have to stay afterschool and clean the whole classroom in _half an hour_!" She moaned.

"Sucks." Was all Ikuto said.

"Gee, thanks for those inspiring words," Amu lamented. She looked up to see Ikuto smirking. "What are you smirking at?"

"You're talking to me," he said.

Amu shrugged. "So what? I'm bored right now. That's the only reason I'm bothering to talk to you."

"You can keep thinking that as much as you want, but the truth is that you like me."

"I do _not_!" Amu protested. She blushed again. Actually, she wasn't quite sure how she felt about him anymore. She hated him; he was really annoying. But then why does she keep talking to him? And why did she feel bad when he looked sad this morning? Maybe... they were starting to become friends?

Amu shook her head. No. That was stupid. There was no way she could be friends with _him_. She hated this town and everything and everyone in it. Didn't she...?

"Right," Ikuto drawled, "of course you do."

"Shut up." Amu shoved him, and he playfully pushed her back. She looked away for a second – so that Ikuto couldn't see her face – and she smiled.

"Okay class today we'll be making apple pie," Aoki-sensei announced. She was a short slightly chubby woman with long blonde hair. She taught the girls' cooking class. "There's premade pie-crust dough in the fridge, so you'll have to shape the crust and top, and make the filling." She began passing out sheets to the students.

Amu had sat down in the only seat left available when she arrived. It was at a table with three of Ikuto's friends. She had heard their names were Yuiki Yaya, Mashiro Rima, and Hoshina Utau. Thankfully she hadn't needed to talk to them and they hadn't tried to talk to her.

"Okay everyone, pick a partner and get to it!" Aoki-sensei trilled.

"Dibs on Utau," Rima called.

"Eh!? But now who do _I_ go with?" Yaya whined. Her eyes were beginning to overflow with tears. "Oh! Amu-chi, do you know how to cook?"

_Amu-chi?_ Amu looked around, wondering if she was talking to someone else. She wasn't. Yaya was staring expectantly at her, awaiting her answer. "I guess I can cook a little," she answered. Truth be told Amu had been wondering if anyone would be her partner, because the teacher probably wouldn't let her work alone. So she could be fake-nice to Yaya for now.

"Yay! Amu-chi, let's be partners!" She squeeled. Yaya grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the cooking area. She started digging in the fridge, getting out different ingredients.

"Ah! Yuiki-san, wait! You need an apron!" Amu yelled. Yaya didn't stop, so Amu went and grabbed an apron for both of them. "Here," she handed the apron to Yaya.

The apron looked pretty funny on Yaya, it was way too big for her. The bottom went down past her knees and the neckline was too low. Amu held back an amused snort.

"What do we do first?" Yaya asked enthusiastically.

"Why don't you put the pie crust together and I can start peeling and cutting the apples," Amu suggested. She wasn't sure she could trust the little girl with anything sharp. Amu turned on the oven to 425°F.

"Okay... How do I do that?" Yaya asked.

"Spread flour on the desk, split the pie dough in half and roll out both halves. After that arrange one half in the tin dish," she explained.

Yaya nodded and got to work. Amu carefully peeled the apples, cut them into thin pieces, and placed them together in a bowl. Amu somehow finished before Yaya, who looked like she was having a lot of trouble rolling the dough. She sighed and helped the girl finish.

"Now what? Now what?" Yaya bounced up and down on the spot.

"We have to make the filling." Amu picked up their recipe to read what to do next. "Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl then add to apples," she read.

Yaya got the bowl while Amu measured out ¾ cup of sugar (part white sugar and part brown sugar). She poured it into the bowl as Yaya added the other ingredients. Amu poured the filling over the apples, mixed it, and then filled the pie with it. Yaya dotted butter around, and Amu put on the top pie crust – sealing and fluting the edges and cutting slits in the top.

"I'll put the pie in!" Yaya cheered. She picked up the pie and opened the oven.

"Put some oven mitts on first!" Amu yelled.

It was just after third period, time for lunch. Ikuto saw Rima peeking around the corner of the hallway, scoping it out. Ikuto waved at her and she came over.

"Ikuto, I need a favour," she said.

Ikuto hesitated. "Why? What is it? You're not going to make me do something weird are you?" He grimaced considering the possible thing she might want him to do.

"I want you to find out if Nagihiko likes me, okay?" Rima huffed.

"Oh, okay. I can do that," he agreed.

"But don't let him know I like him!" she insisted.

"Yeah, yeah. I wasn't planning on it."

Nagihko came around the corner and Rima gave Ikuto a shove towards him. "Do it _now_! And find my afterwards," she commanded.

"Hey! Nagihiko!" Ikuto yelled, waving at the other boy.

"Hi Ikuto. What's up?" Nagihiko asked.

Ikuto decided to quickly get to the point. "So, do you like anyone?" he asked.

"Wow, that was unexpected," Nagihiko laughed. "Sorry Ikuto, but you're not exactly my type."

"Haha," Ikuto said sarcastically. "Seriously now, do you like Rima?"

"Um, I..." Nagihiko blushed slightly and quickly looked away. "Why would you ask that? She didn't say anything about me, did she?"

"Nah, I was just wondering. You're always staring at her and stuff," he explained.

"I guess, maybe, I like her," he said. He wouldn't look at Ikuto as he said it; instead he rummaged through his locker.

"Huh. Cool. I got to go, see you." Ikuto waved goodbye to a very confused Nagihiko. "Why are you always hiding around corners?" he asked Rima, who turned out to be watching him the whole time.

She ignored his question. "What did he say!?" Rima demanded.

"He said he likes you, so go tell him you like him too," said Ikuto.

"How do you know he likes me? Did he actually _say_ it, or did he just blush and stuff?" she asked anxiously.

"Blushed, and he said he likes you," he answered.

"Are you _sure_? Give me the details. What _exactly_ did he say?" she asked.

"Why does that matter?" he wondered. "If he likes you he likes you. That's it."

Rima gave him an unsatisfied glare. "You suck." She stomped angrily away.

_Girls make no sense_, Ikuto thought.

Amu grumbled to herself as the other students in her class left. She waited until everyone was gone before grabbing a small bucket and running to the bathroom to fill it up. She'd need it to wash the chalkboard and clean the desks.

She plodded back into the room to be greeted by Ikuto. "Yo," he said.

"Ikuto? What are you doing here?" Amu asked. She hauled the bucket of water up onto the teacher's desk.

Ikuto shrugged. "Nothing much. Hanging out."

"Okay, you do that." Amu grabbed a rag and started washing the chalkboard. There was no way she would be able to get this done in time.

"Want some help?" Ikuto offered.

"You want to _help_ me? Uh... Yeah, okay," Amu agreed.

Ikuto grabbed another rag and started washing the other side of the chalkboard. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll bet you a dollar I can wash my half of the board before you."

"Hm... Well..." Amu hesitated. "_Go!_" She waved her cloth rapidly over the chalkboard, holding back laughter as she went.

"Done!" Ikuto yelled.

"What? No way!" But sure enough he was already done, and looking pretty smug about it. "Fine. Tomorrow I'll give you a dollar, and as for a prize right now you've earned the ability to help me finish cleaning," said Amu.

"Oh, how fun," he responded sarcastically. "I'll clap out the erasers and you can straighten out the bookcase."

Amu collected books from across the classroom, and shoved them into any crevices she could find in the book cases, straightening out the rest of the books as she went. She looked over to see Ikuto dutifully clapping erasers out the window. It was kind of nice that he was helping her. Not that she'd admit it to him.

The two of them finished off all the jobs two minutes before 3:30. Amu let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god. I thought we weren't going to finish in time," she said. "Now go away before the principal comes."

"You're not going to thank me first?" he asked, grinning.

"Why should I? I didn't ask for your help," said Amu.

Ikuto shrugged. "Well if you won't thank me then you owe me one."

"Fine, whatever. I owe you one favour. Now _leave_!" Amu ordered, pushing him out the door.

"See you tomorrow Amu-chan."

Amu slammed the door in the face. Ikuto smirked and left. The principal came in a few minutes later.

"I see you're all done," Sanjo-sensei commented. She ran her fingers over the desks and looked over everything thoroughly. "Well done, I'm impressed. You may go home now."

Amu grabbed her bag and ran out of the building. There was nothing better than going home after school was finished – except for maybe going home after detention was finished.

"Hey!"

Amu turned around to see four tough-looking girls. The girl who spoke was standing in front. She had black hair tied into two low pigtails with dark purple ribbons. There was a skull slip in her hair and fingerless fishnet gloves on her hands. Her eyes were the same dark purple as the ribbons.

"I'm Amaya, and these guys are Chiyo, Kame, and Miyuki," she said, indicating each one of the girls with either a point of a nod in their direction.

Chiyo had long light blue hair that went down to her waist. Her features were all soft and delicate – large dark brown eyes framed by long eyelashes, a small button nose, and little pouty mouth. Amu saw nothing remotely threatening about her until she smiled. It was slow, plotting, malicious smile. Amu almost let out a shudder.

Kame was tall and thin with short indigo hair. Her eyes were a golden brown. She was dressed in red with black lace. Her cheekbones were sharp and she had a small mouth. She was staring angrily into blank space.

Miyuko was the one standing farthest to the back of the group. She was bouncing up and down from leg to leg. Her hair was a light yellowy-blonde colour. Miyuko was skinny and the shortest of the four.

"Hinamori Amu, we want you to be in our gang."

**+-+-+-+-+**

**CLIFFHANGER! Dun, dun Duuun… lol. Anyways…**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!!! ^-^**


	5. Chapter 5

**It's been such a **_**long**_** time, since I've written. Sorry everyone! I've just been really busy... (Forgive me? ^^;)**

**Well, here's the next part.**

"Hinamori Amu, we want you to be in our gang."

"You want _me_... to join your gang?" asked Amu. She frowned in confusion. This was really weird.

Amaya nodded and her two ponytails swayed along beside her head. "Our group's called _Niiro Ijin_ – Red Devil. Our district is from this town to the next one over, bordering Mikasa."

_Mikasa? That's my old hometown..._ Amu thought morosely. "And what, is that supposed to impress me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in a very unimpressed way. She turned and started to walk away. The last thing she needed right now was to be tied down in another girl gang.

The other girls jogged over to her. "Maybe. It's bigger than your last territory of a single tiny town," said Kame emotionlessly.

"I don't have time for this right now, okay?" Amu said. "So why don't you four just crawl back to wherever you came from?"

Chiyo grabbed the back of Amu's shirt and spun her around. Chiyo kicked her leg up high, aiming for Amu's face. Amu easily ducked underneath it, spun around, and slammed the back of her hand into the back of Chiyo's head. Chiyo staggered forwards, dazed for a second. She straightened back out and went to punch Amu in the stomach. Luckily, Miyuko grabbed her arm and twisted it around, forcing her to the ground.

"Sorry Amu-chan," Miyuko apologized. Her voice was surprisingly soft and sweet. "Chiyo has no manners." She shook her head disapprovingly at Chiyo, who was still sprawled out on the floor.

"Whatever, I've got to get going," Amu said. "I'll get back to you about the whole joining-your-gang thing."

"Hey mom, what's for dinner?" Ikuto asked, yawning. He'd had a long day filled with homework. All he wanted now was to sit down with a hot meal.

"Huh?" His mother looked up from her work, surprised at the sudden interruption.

"Dinner? You know, that time in the evening when you eat all the food," he said. He sat down on the couch beside his mother.

"_Oh_, dinner. Takeout?" His mother suggested hopefully. She was always really busy with work. She had to make money to pay for their house, food, Ikuto's school, her husband's drinking, and other things. Right now she was working towards a promotion. She has to prove she's the best worker out of three of people to get the promotion though.

"Sure, why not," Ikuto responded. It was already pretty late and he was hungry. He would eat anything at this point. "You get the takeout menu and I'll get the-"

He was interrupted by the banging of the front door. "Son of a-" swore a rough voice from behind the door. "This damn door never opens!" There was more banging and the sound of keys.

"Mom, go upstairs and lock yourself in the bathroom," Ikuto ordered. He could hear the keys trying to be jammed into the lock now.

"But, Ikuto!" His mother protested. "I can't just-!"

"_Go_!"

With only a second's more hesitation, she gave him a sad look and dashed upstairs. Ikuto walked over to the door, and stood waiting for it to open.

It opened, and behind it stood a tall man with dark brown hair and stubble on his face. He stumbled drunkenly into the house.

"Welcome home... dad," Ikuto said bitterly.

Amu dashed into the school, almost tripping as she rounded the corner. "Ah! I'm going to be-!" She stopped dead in her tracks as she looked at the clock. There was still fifteen minutes until the warning bell rang.

"I hate my clock..." Amu muttered. The time on the clock in her room kept going all wacky. This morning she had woken up thinking she was going to be extremely late, and had ran all the way to school. She didn't have time to fix her hair either. "I'm buying a new clock after school today."

She trudged down the hallway, thoroughly annoyed about this morning. Amu was surprised to see how many people arrived at school this early. She was especially surprised to see Ikuto standing in front of his locker, taking books out for the morning classes. She hadn't thought that Ikuto was the kind of guy to get to school early.

She walked by, planning not to talk to him, but stopped when she saw that he was wearing sunglasses inside, which is odd to say the least.

"Why are you wearing sunglasses?" Amu questioned.

"No reason." Ikuto shrugged. "Didn't feel like taking them off."

"No offense, but you look stupid. Take them off." Amu paused. "Actually I did intend for that to be a bit offensive.

Ikuto scowled at her. "Thanks for that, but I don't want to take them off."

"Why not?" Amu frowned. Something weird was going on. Amu reached for the sunglasses and Ikuto jumped back out of the way.

"Amu!" Ikuto exclaimed angrily. She scowled and lunged for the glasses again. She managed to grab them, but Ikuto was holding them as well and she couldn't pull them off. "Amu! _Stop_!" They wrestled for a while before Amu knocked them off his face.

"Ikuto, your face!" She gasped. His right eye was covered in a big, dark bruise. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" He snapped. Ikuto bent down to grab the glasses, but Amu grabbed his arm first and dragged him along behind her, looking for a spot away from prying eyes. Ikuto covered his black eye with his other hand while they walked.

Amu took them into the first floor girl's washroom. "Out!" she ordered the other girls standing inside fixing their makeup. The girls scrambled out of her way and out the door. Amu shoved the doorstopper under the door so that it couldn't be opened from the outside.

"Okay, so what happened?" Amu demanded.

"Nothing..." Ikuto hesitated. "I, uh, fell down."

"You fell down and hit your _eye_?" Amu asked dryly. "Did... did your stepfather... hit you?"

Ikuto nodded tensely and didn't say anything else.

"Does it hurt? Your eye I mean," said Amu. She was met with silence. "Are you okay? Did he hit you anywhere else?"

"Amu, stop," Ikuto sighed. "It's fine."

"No, it's _not_ fine! And I will _not_ stop!" Amu yelled. "This is serious. I mean, look at your eye..." She lightly touched the bruise around his eye. "Does it hurt?"

Ikuto gave her a mischievous smile. "Look who cares about me."

"Ugh, I do _not_. You just have to ruin everything, don't you?" Amu groaned. She turned, meaning to walk out of the bathroom, but Ikuto grabbed her hand and whirled her around.

"Amu, wait!" When she turned around he put his hand around the back of her neck and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

Amu's face felt like it was on fire. "I-I'll give you a break th-this time, b-b-because y-you're injured, b-but next time I... I'll kick your ass," she stuttered.

"_Amu-chan_," Ikuto said in a winy voice, "will you eat lunch with me?"

Amu sent him a hard look. "God, could you say that _any_ louder?" she asked.

"Aww, you're not ashamed of me, are you Amu-chan?" He asked, grinning. "And here I was thinking we'd had a moment back in that washroom."

"But that was the morning, and this is the now. The morning is so four hours ago," Amu retorted. "Plus that sounded really dirty."

"Come on. We can sit outside. _And_ I'll buy lunch. I can say some more dirty things if you want too."

"Well..." Amu hadn't had time to make any food this morning and she had forgotten to grab money. "Deal. You buy the food and I'll eat with you. But nothing dirty!"

The two walked together to the cafeteria, earning several glances and whispers as they went. For once in her life, Amu decided to just ignore it.

"I want french fries and pizza..." Amu paused, deep and thought. "Plus a cookie, I've got to have cookie."

Ikuto gave her a strange look as they entered the cafeteria.

"What?" Amu asked.

"Aren't girls supposed to eat healthier, or at least _less_ than guys do?" Ikuto snickered. Amu stuck out her foot, hoping to trip him. Unluckily all he did was stumble. "Bully," he said teasingly. Amu sent him a glare.

"By the way, do you have any girl gangs around here?" Amu asked.

"I don't know, probably. Why? You're not thinking of joining one, are you?" he questioned.

"No, not really, I was just curious," she responded. She thought back to what had happened last night. She was planning on saying no. She didn't want to join another gang, did she?

"Good, it's dangerous," said Ikuto. He grabbed two cookies off the table.

Amu arched her eyebrow. "And you thought I was what?" Amu asked Ikuto. "Sweet as apple pie?"

"More like a strawberry," Ikuto retorted. "Because your face constantly resembles how red they are." Amu blushed a bright red. "Just like that."

"I wasn't joking. I'm not a sweet little girly-girl," Amu snapped. "Being in a gang is like a part of who I am."

"I don't like the idea of you being in a gang," he said, perhaps a bit angrily.

"Why?" Amu demanded. Did he think she was starting get soft or something? He didn't have any right to try and tell her what to or not to do. No one did.

"You might get hurt!" He yelled.

They were starting to attract quite a bit of attention, but Amu couldn't care less at this point. "So what? I've been hurt plenty of times before!" she yelled back.

"You could be killed!"

"And yet that would still be an improvement to standing here talking to you," Amu replied as she stormed off. She marched outside and found exactly what she was hoping to find.

"Ah! Amu!" Amaya said happily. Her and the rest of the gang were standing outside the gates of the school, waiting for Amu. "About yesterday-"

"I'm joining," said Amu.

"All right!" Amaya cheered. "Let's go wreak some havoc!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! This part came out a lot quicker than the last one, right? (lol. That one took forever. ^^;) And it's longer. It's to make up for making everyone wait before. ^^;**

"Woo!" Amaya cheered, using a baseball bat to smash in a mailbox secured to the side of a house. "This is for saying I wouldn't make it past the eighth grade!" The metallic box was a crumpled mess. She gave it one last hit and knocked it off the wall. "Ha, I cracked the stone too. Lovely."

They were at the house of Amaya's teacher in middle school. Apparently he was a jackass, so she came here every couple months to mess up his house a little. Kame and Mikuyo were ripping plants out of the ground (Miyuko was making a bouquet out of the flowers she picked). Chiyo and Amu were standing off to the side watching the damage.

"I think we're just about done here," said Amaya. She nodded to Chiyo, who picked up a rather large stone and launched it through a window. The alarm sounded and the five girls ran off, laughing together.

The sun was starting to set now, painting long, dark shadows across the ground. They walked into the park, spotting a group of teenage girls sitting on a bench eating snacks. The gang strode over, and stood menacingly in front of them.

"I'm hungry," said Amaya.

The girls looked around at each other nervously.

"That means you _move_," snarled Amu, leaning down towards them.

The girls scampered away, leaving behind their bag full of snacks. Amaya plopped herself down and swung her legs over the armrest. Chiyo sat down, crossing one leg over the over, while Miyuko sat down very gracefully. Amu and Kame settled down beside them.

"Popcorn, yum," said Amu, grabbing the little pack of it from the bag.

"Tomorrow let's go to the mall. I feel like _purchasing_ a new dress," she snickered.

It had been a whole week since Amu and Ikuto had fought in the cafeteria. Ikuto had tried to speak to her several times, but she wouldn't even look at him anymore. It was really bugging him too. He couldn't get her out of his head. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Why couldn't she just forgive him when he apologized?

A paper ball bounced off his head, shocking him out of his thoughts. "Ikuto! Pay attention!" Utau hissed. Ikuto nodded in response.

He looked over at Amu who was staring intently down at her notes. He stared at her until the bell rang. She never looked up. Students began making their way out of the room and Amu started packing up her stuff.

"Amu, will you _please_ talk to me?" he asked her. She didn't say anything, didn't even look at him. "I don't understand what I did to make you mad, but I'm sorry, okay?"

Amu shook her head and left the classroom. Ikuto followed her out. "Please Amu! What did I do?" he asked. He was starting to get a little frustrated with her now. He'd been trying to apologize all week, and she wouldn't even give him the decency to look at him.

"What, are you mad at me because I care about you? Because I'm worried you might get hurt?" he yelled.

"_Yes_!" She yelled back.

"Why? That doesn't make any sense," Ikuto retorted. She turned her back on him and walked away. He caught her wrist and spun her back around. The late bell rang, signalling the start of the next class. The hall was empty except for the two of them now.

"Amu, talk to me," he begged. "Please, just talk to me."

"I don't want to talk to you," she hissed. Amu tried to pull her hand away, but he kept a firm grip on it.

"I'm not letting go until you do," said Ikuto. "Why are you mad that I'm worried about you?"

She glared at him. "I'm not some stupid little girl; I can take care of myself! I get enough of this crap from my mom; I don't need it from anyone else," she screamed. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do." Ikuto let out an exasperated sigh and continued, "I just want you to be safe. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Well guess what, you can't protect me every second of my life! Not when you're here, and certainly not when you leave!"

"Leave? I'm not going anywhere," he said.

"I... Y-you don't know what'll happen later on! Anything could happen," she muttered. She turned around so that he couldn't see his face.

Ikuto was really confused about what she was talking about. "What are you talking about? Does this have something to do with your dad?" he asked.

"No! Shut up! It doesn't!" she yelled. "And guess what? I joined another gang, and you can't do anything about it!" This fact hit him like a bullet, thoroughly shocking him. Before he had thought it was just an empty threat, but now he knew it wasn't. He didn't want her to get hurt, but what could he do...?

Amu was still yelling, but her voice was starting to waver. "I'm not quitting! I like it there! They're my friends and, and..." Her sentence trailed off.

Ikuto wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. "Okay, I'm sorry. I won't try to control you. You can do whatever you want. But I _won't_ stop worrying about you, and you can always count on me when you need help," he whispered. She hadn't pushed him away yet, which was a little surprising. He even started stroking her hair (which was quite soft) and she didn't do anything more than stand motionless in his arms.

"I don't like you being angry at me Amu, so will you hurry up and forgive me?" he asked.

Amu looked up at him. Her eyes were brimming with tears that threatened to spill over. Ikuto wiped away a tear at the corner of her eye before it could snake its way down her cheek. Amu stepped out of his arms, sniffled once and then wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'm going home," she told him.

"Okay," he answered. "I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah... Monday," said Amu as she left.

Amu was lying on her bed, thinking about earlier that day. Ikuto had been so nice to her, so understanding, even though she'd been so difficult. What was wrong with him? Normal people would've just yelled at her about how she was being stupid, not asked her to forgive them for not understanding, right?

Plus he was so warm, and it felt nice to be in his arms... She rolled her eyes at her own stupid thoughts. What a stupid thing to think. It wasn't even remotely true either. Amu shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. Not true at all.

Amu heard the front door of her house open and then close. Her mom must be home. She listened to the shuffling from the main floor, trying not to think about anything. Soon she heard her mother climbing the stairs and then she burst into her room.

"Amu, I just got a phone call from your school saying that you missed half of your classes yesterday and more than half today. What did you think you were doing skipping class? Where did you go?" Midori asked. She sounded mad.

"Obviously I went home, otherwise I wouldn't be here," Amu retorted.

"What about yesterday? You were out to all hours yesterday. I didn't say anything about it then, but if you're skipping classes to go do whatever it is you're doing, I want to know what it is," she demanded.

"I just wandered around. School was boring me, I knew everything already," said Amu.

"Amu Hinamori! You will _not_ skip any more classes, do you hear me? I went through so much trouble to put you in this school and pay the bills. Don't you dare mess this up for us," Midori threatened.

"Don't you mean 'mess this up for _you'_? I don't remember ever being asked for my opinion about where to go to school, and this certainly isn't where I _want_ to be."

"So what, then? Are you _trying_ to get yourself kicked out?" asked Midori angrily.

"That was the plan," said Amu dryly.

"I can't even _talk_ to you!" Midori snapped. She left the room, closing the door behind her.

Amu curled up on her bed. "You never listen to me, you don't even try. Ikuto would understand," she whispered to herself. For the first time Amu found herself actually wanting to talk to him. Instead she swallowed her pride and buried herself under her blankets. Tomorrow would be a fresh, new day. Hopefully a better day.

Ikuto was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework. It was taking quite a while because he was bored and _still_ couldn't stop thinking about Amu. Would she forgive him? It seemed like she might.

"Ikuto, I'm going out of town for the weekend for work," his mother told him. She had a small suitcase in her hand.

"Okay, good luck with the job," he said.

"You'll..." she hesitated. "You'll be okay, right?" She sounded a bit worried.

"Yeah, of course," he said. His step-dad was gone again, and he'd never come home on a weekend before. He'd be fine.

She swept Ikuto up into a tight hug. "Oh, Ikuto, I'll miss you this weekend!" She whimpered. "Be a good boy, okay? Stay safe." His mother was a little over-affectionate sometimes.

He nodded and opened up the front door for her. She waved to him until she got into the taxi and drove away. Now he could go back to obsessing over Amu.

Rima sat on a bench, swinging her legs back in forth in a steady rhythm. She looked up to see a purple-haired teen running towards her, waving.

"Rima-chan!" Nagihiko smiled happily when he reached her.

She puffed out her cheeks angrily at him. "You're late."

"Eh?" He looked down at his watch. "Actually, I think you're early." He showed her his watch, and it was true. She was early.

Rima's cheeks heated up with embarrassment. "Oh, well, um, sorry," she stammered.

Nagihiko had called Rima and asked her to meet him in the park. After some complaining about how late it was on her part, he convinced her to meet him (not that she didn't actually want to go). She was actually quite curious why he asked her out.

"Is it... just us, or is anyone else coming?" Rima asked.

"It's just us," he said quietly, a tiny bit of blush on his face.

"Oh, well, what did you want to talk about?"

The two walked side-by-side through the park, their shoulders brushing against one another.

"I was talking to Ikuto a while ago, and-"

It suddenly started to rain, pouring down onto the two teens. Rima squealed in surprise. She grabbed Nagihiko's hand and dashed forwards, trying to find somewhere to get out of the rain. They found shelter under the awning of a shop.

"Aww, the rain probably ruined my shoes," Rima said, looking down sadly at her suede gladiator sandals. They were her favourite shoes too.

"Rima," said Nagihiko hesitantly. His face was a little red too.

"What?" She asked. After a second she realised that she was still holding his hand. She hastily let go and turned away so that he couldn't see her blush. "So, before you were saying something?"

"Right, what I was saying was, I was talking to Ikuto a while ago, and it made me realise that I needed to tell you something. I was too nervous to before, but now I think I can finally tell you that-"

"Wait! Nagihiko I have to tell you something," said Rima, interrupting him in the middle of his speech.

"Okay, go ahead," he said awkwardly.

"Nagihiko, I think I like you," she said. "No, I _know_ I like you. I really like you. As more than a friend I mean."

"If you would've waited a couple more seconds before interrupting me, I would've said something along the same lines," laughed Nagihiko.

"R-really?" stuttered Rima. "So, you... like me?" Her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest. She was so excited. Nothing could make this moment any better.

Nagihiko smiled, pulled her closer to him and planted his lips on hers. Rima's eyes widened in surprise. It was her first kiss. And it was with _Nagihiko_! His lips felt soft against hers, and they fit together so well, it was as if they were made for each other. When they broke apart she sighed happily and then kissed him again.

Well, maybe the kiss did make the moment better.

Amu was startled awake by a knock on her balcony door. She shot bolt upright in her bed, staring at the shadowy figure behind the door. It knocked again.

"Wh-who is it?" Amu whimpered fearfully.

"Amu? Will you let me in?" it asked.

"Ikuto!" Amu scrambled out of bed. She unlocked the balcony door for him, but he didn't move inside. His back was facing her, and she couldn't see him very well in the dark. "What are you doing out there? It's raining! And it's after midnight! How did you get up here anyway?"

"I climbed up, it was kind of hard," he answered. He turned towards her. His shirt was torn; he had two bruises and a cut on his face, plus a big bruise on his arm.

"Ikuto!" Amu exclaimed in surprise.

"I didn't know where else to go..." he whispered sadly.

Amu grabbed Ikuto's arm and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. She flicked on the lamp in her room (she didn't want to turn on all of the lights for fear that it might attract the attention of her mother) to get a better view of him. She was now able to see that he was bleeding through his shirt on the right side of the stomach.

"Ikuto, you're bleeding! Take off your shirt and sit down on the bed," she ordered. Amu was surprised that Ikuto didn't make a dirty comment.

She rushed into her bathroom, grabbing the case of medical supplies she kept hidden under the sink. Ikuto was sitting down on the bed trying to unbutton his shirt, but he kept wincing as he did so.

"Let me do it," Amu sighed. She undid the buttons and slipped the shirt off of him, trying not to blush as her hands brushed against his chest. She took out the rubbing alcohol and poured some on a cloth, dabbing it lightly over the wound on his face and then his stomach. He flinched repeatedly as she did this but didn't make a sound.

Amu put a bandage over the cut on his face. "The cut on your face isn't too deep, it should heal just fine. But, the cut on your side... it's pretty deep. You really should go to the hospital for it, you need stitches," she told him.

He shook his head. "I'm not going to the hospital," he said. His eyes looked dull and emotionless, and oddly it hurt her to see him that way.

"But Ikuto-!"

"Would _you_ go to the hospital?" Ikuto asked her.

Amu faltered, and then sighed in defeat. "No, I wouldn't. I can do something to help though. It's not quite as good for healing as stitches, but it'll work." She took out a little squeeze bottle full of a gooey liquid from the case.

"What you do is put some of this in the wound and then squeeze the sides of the cut together for a few seconds and it'll hold it together just like stitches. This'll hurt though," she warned him. She squeezed some in the wound and then held the sides together, apologizing to him when he let out a grunt of pain. Afterwards she put a sheet of cotton over the wound and then wrapped gauze all the way around his stomach.

"I'll get a towel for your hair, okay?" Ikuto merely nodded in return. She returned with a nice, fluffy towel. She held the towel out for him, but he made no move to take it. Amu hesitated for a second before using the towel to try and dry his hair herself.

She sat down on beside him on the bed. "Ikuto, are you okay?" asked Amu.

Ikuto laid his head on her shoulder, causing Amu to blush. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Yeah, sure," answered Amu.

Ikuto slipped off his shoes and laid down on her bed. "H-hey! Wait, not on my..." Amu trailed off. "Never mind."

Amu lifted up the covers and laid down with her back facing Ikuto. He wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled up against her. He was cold and wet from the rain. She felt kind of awkward in this position, but she wasn't going to tell him to stop. He was feeling sad, and she wanted to help him feel better. If this helped then she'd let him do it.

"Goodnight Amu, and thanks," he whispered.

**Thanks for reading everyone! Please review! ^-^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry that this part took a while, but I had all of my end of the year projects and then exams! I was SO busy! Two weekends ago a worked all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to finish all of the projects and homework I had. The only breaks I had were each night when I slept for like six hours (and of course, to shower. Lol. That'd be really gross if I didn't XD ). I even did my homework while I ate. It was **_**not**_** fun. **

**But now school's OVER! WOO! I'm so happy! Although I still have like no time to write this summer... I'm surprised I even managed to get this part out. :P**

**On the bright side, this part's pretty long. I was going to end it sooner, but then I just kept writing and it kept getting longer and longer. Lol. I hope you guys enjoy it! ^-^**

Ikuto woke up and rubbed his eyes groggily. He rolled over and winced in pain. His side hurt like hell. Where was he again...? Oh yeah, he was at Amu's house. And Amu was... standing with his back to him, wearing only a bra and a pair of jean shorts. She looked really hot too. Although if he said that, she'd kill him.

"Do you have a tattoo?" Ikuto asked, eyeing the little white dove on the back of her right hip.

"Eh?" Amu turned her head around in surprise. Her face turned bright red, which was rather cute. "I-I th-thought you were asleep! Don't look you freaky, messed-up, pervert!" she yelled.

Ikuto chuckled. "I'll close my eyes," he said.

"You're damn right you'll close your eyes!" she retorted. "Okay, I'm done. You can open them again."

He opened his eyes, just as Amu chucked a pillow right into his face. "Ouch. Hey, I _am_ injured you know."

"And you saw me without a shirt on, so I'm not sorry," she huffed.

"Nice bra, by the way, very lacy," he snickered.

"I'm going to kill you!" Amu screeched. She picked up a pillow and smacked him repeatedly in the head as he laughed. After a while Amu plopped down onto the bed beside him, looking both embarrassed and tired.

Ikuto sat up slowly. He leaned forwards and blew softly in her ear. He wanted to see her spazzy reaction.

"_Don't_ do that, I'm mad at you," she grumbled. "Plus it's weird."

Ikuto frowned; she wasn't being any fun. Maybe he should kick it up a notch. Ikuto lightly bit Amu on the ear, hoping for a better reaction this time.

She jumped up off the bed. "What's wrong with you?" squeaked Amu.

"I'm bored," he whined.

"If I kill you will that make it better?" She threatened.

"I don't know," he sighed. "Maybe." He reached out and touched his fingers to the palm of her hand. Amu looked down at their hands, blushed, and then jerked her hand away.

"W-what are you doing?" Amu asked.

Ikuto looked away, a little embarrassed. It was just a weird impulse. He hadn't really thought about doing it, he'd just done it. It was like second nature. "Nothing." A long awkward silence stretched out between them.

"About yesterday…" Amu paused. "Are you going to talk about it? Tell me what happened?"

"No." He had kind of been hoping that she wouldn't ask him about yesterday.

Amu sighed. "Okay, fine. Well, I'm hungry, so do you want some food?"

"I could go for some food," Ikuto answered. He felt like he hadn't eaten in forever

"I'll go downstairs and get some breakfast. There's probably something being made. If not, I'll just grab some cereal or something," she said. "Why don't you… put a shirt on or something while I'm gone?"

Ikuto gave her a little pout. "But I thought you liked me better like this."

"Yeah, right," Amu snorted. "You wish." She shut the door behind her as she left the room.

Amu walked slowly down the stairs, hoping not to make them creak and attract the attention of anyone else in the house. She turned into the kitchen and saw a plate of pancakes on the counter top.

She grabbed a plate and started shovelling pancakes onto it. She grabbed the maple syrup from the fridge and poured it over top.

"Good morning Amu," Rito said.

Amu jumped in surprise. She'd thought she was alone. She turned around to see Rito standing there with his own plate of pancakes. Ami was standing behind him, hugging his legs, and peeking out from between them. She was still a little nervous around Amu since the first day they'd met. And that suited Amu just fine.

"Wow, that's a lot of pancakes," Rito commented, looking down at her overflowing plate.

"Did you ever think that maybe I'm hungry?" Amu asked sarcastically. "I'm going to eat in my room."

"Really? Are you sure you won't eat down here with the rest of us?" Rito asked.

Amu just walked away, not bothering to answer. She made it all the way to her bedroom door before her mother had to come and interrupt her.

"Amu, I need to talk to you," said Midori.

"And what a coincidence, I'm standing here waiting for you to finish talking."

"I've never done this before, but I don't know what else to do," Midori stopped and took a deep breath. "Amu, you're grounded. You can't leave the house for the rest of the weekend."

"Yeah, sure, good luck with that," Amu said in an amused tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Midori questioned.

Amu rolled her eyes. "If you really thought that you would be able to ground me you would've done it a long time ago." Her mother really didn't get it, did she? She couldn't control her, no matter how she tried. Amu would do whatever she wanted. "I'll see you later. Probably."

Amu went into her room; opening the door just enough to let her through without letting her mother see Ikuto. She glanced outside to see her mother standing there with a dumbfounded expression on her face before closing the door.

"Hey, you like pancakes?" Amu asked Ikuto, who was now sitting up on the bed and wearing a shirt.

"Yeah, pancakes are good," he answered.

Amu sat down beside him on the bed and set the pancakes down between the two of them. "I forgot forks and stuff, so we'll have to eat with our hands, sorry," she apologized.

"That's okay." Ikuto grabbed a pancake and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth.

"Eww. You're such a guy," Amu observed, looking at him with a slight touch of disgust. You'd think a guy would act a little less gross when there's a girl with him.

"Really? Good, I was beginning to worry," he sardonically.

"Shut up," Amu said, though she had a small smile on her face. She grabbed a pancake and shoved it into his mouth. Most of it just crumbled and fell to the floor. Amu ate a pancake nice and slowly as Ikuto tried to swallow everything in his mouth.

Ikuto grabbed a pancake and, when Amu wasn't looking, stuffed it into her mouth.

"Hey!" Amu protested through a mouthful of food "Stop it!" Amu grabbed another pancake and whipped it at Ikuto's face. It hit him on the cheek. Amu started laughing, so Ikuto threw a pancake back at her, hitting her right on the nose. This just caused her to laugh even harder. Sadly though, they were out of pancakes.

"You have syrup on your cheek," Amu said once she calmed down.

Ikuto wiped the syrup off with the back of his hand. "You have some on your nose."

Amu rubbed her nose with her hands. "Did I get it?" she asked.

"No. I'll get it," he said. Ikuto leaned over and licked her nose.

Amu sat completely still for a second, completely in shock. Did he just... _lick_ her nose? Her face turned red as her mind finally started to comprehend what had happened. "You just... _licked my nose_!" she exclaimed.

Ikuto shrugged. "Your face was dirty, so I cleaned it. Does it really matter how?"

"You didn't have to _lick_ me!" Amu yelled. "It's gross. And now I have your germs all over me." Amu wiped vigorously at her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. "Blech, Ikuto germs."

Ikuto laughed. "What, are we back in kindergarten now?"

"No kid in kindergarten would _lick_ another kid's nose," Amu disputed.

"I'd lick _your_ nose if we were in the same kindergarten," said Ikuto, giving her a smirk.

"Don't make me punch you in the stomach," she threatened. "Speaking of, does your side hurt?" She hated to admit it to anyone, even herself, but she was just the tiniest bit worried about him.

"Yeah, but it's not too bad. It's manageable," he responded.

"That's good," said Amu. Now she had to bring up something that was a little awkward, because it might make him make that same sad face he had before when she asked him about last night. She didn't want to ask him, but she kind of needed to. "Um... Ikuto, how long do you think you're going to be staying here for?"

"Uh..." Ikuto said, completely caught off guard by the question.

"It's not like I want you to leave or anything!" Amu exclaimed. "You can stay here as long as you want. It's just... if you're going to be here for a while longer you'll probably need to go get some of your stuff, right? Clothing, homework, a toothbrush, stuff like that."

Ikuto took a long, deep breath. "I guess for the rest of the weekend, at least," he said quietly.

"So you need your stuff right? I can go get anything you want," Amu offered.

He visibly paled at what she said. "Amu, no. You can't go there, okay?"

"Well _you_ certainly can't go," she scoffed. "And who else is going to go?"

"I don't need my stuff right now. I can wait until I'm feeling better, and then go get it myself," he said.

"Ikuto, I'll be fine, really," Amu assured him. She opened her closet and grabbed a pair of black converse to wear. "Seriously, you don't have to worry," she added when she saw his worried expression.

"_Please_ don't go," Ikuto begged, grabbing her arm as she walked by. He looked so desperate that she honestly felt bad about leaving. "You can't go in there alone."

"Who said I was going alone?" Amu asked, giving him a mischievous smile. She snatched Ikuto's keys off her bedside table, and stepped out onto the balcony. "Don't worry, I won't be gone long. Oh, and if my mom happens to come in, try and hide okay?" she called out before she jumped onto the tree and eased herself down to the ground.

"Amu!" Ikuto yelled after her, but she paid no attention, she had places to be.

Amu took out her phone and sent a quick text as she jogged towards Ikuto's house. In about ten minutes she'd be there, loaded with backup.

"Yo! Amu!" Amaya called, jogging down the street towards Amu. She was followed closely behind by Chiyo, Kame, and Miyuko.

Amu got up off the rock she had been sitting on as she waited for them to come, and dusted off her shorts. "You're here, great," she said.

"Why are we here, Amu-chan?" asked Miyuko. She was bouncing up and down from leg to leg as usual, causing her blonde hair to swing around her face.

"I have a friend who's staying at my house, and I need to get their stuff," she answered. Amu didn't want to have to tell any of them that the person was a guy, because she didn't want to go through the embarrassment of explaining everything.

Chiyo rolled her eyes. "Okay," she drawled, "but why are _we_ here?"

"Their father's kind of... an abusive jackass," said Amu. "So I thought I might need some help."

"Let's get going then," said Amaya, leading the group towards the house. "So how are we getting in? Is this like a break-in kind of deal or-"

She was interrupted when Kame picked up a rock and hurled it through the window on the front door.

"I have a _key_!" Amu exclaimed. "Oh crap, now I'm going to have to explain this..."

"Oh, sorry," she said, though she sounded as emotionless as usual.

"It's fine, let's just go in," Amu sighed.

The four girls entered the house to hear a man screaming.

"What the _hell_ was that noise?" He yelled. He appeared from around the corner of the entrance hall. "Who... who are you people!"

"Does this mission include violence?" asked Kame.

Amu paused to think for a second. Then she shrugged and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Kame swung her leg around and hit the man in the stomach, causing him to double over on the floor.

"Hey," said Amu. "We're just here to pick up some of Ikuto's things. We'll just go up and get them, and then before you know it we'll be gone."

"Don't you _dare_ even try to go upstairs! Get out of my house you crazy-"

Chiyo put her foot on top of his back and forced him back down when he tried to stand up. "It'd be better for you if you just stayed down," she said.

"Amu and I'll go upstairs and get the stuff. You guys stay down here and make sure he doesn't try anything," Amaya directed them.

"Leave it to us," said Miyuko as she gave Amaya a salute.

Amaya and Amu went upstairs. Ikuto's step-father hurled insults at them as they went.

_Ikuto's house is pretty nice_, thought Amu. _It's not huge, or anything, but it looked cozy. It looked like a place that you could create a lot of good memories in._ _Just like my old house..._

"You know which room it is?" Amaya asked.

"No," Amu responded. "It should be fairly obvious which one it is though."

Amu walked down the hall and peered into the first room to the left. It was a bathroom. She continued on to the second. It was a bedroom with a dark wooden bed covered with dark blue sheets, a wooden dresser, and a wooden desk with a set of shelves on the wall on top that was filled with CDs and books.

"I think this is it," she said, stepping inside. It was surprisingly neat. She thought it would be a lot messier. "I need to find a bag first."

"Here's one." Amaya grabbed a sports bag from the corner of the room and threw it at her.

"Thanks," said Amu. She unzipped the bag then opened the first door of Ikuto's dresser and started filling up the bag with clothing. She grabbed a couple shirts, two sweaters, and two pairs of pants.

Amaya stood behind her, watching her fill the bag. "So, this person staying at your house is a guy," she commented.

"Eh?" she said, surprised. She was hoping that Amaya wouldn't pay attention to what she was putting in the bag. "Well, yeah. But not in the way you're thinking!"

Amaya didn't seem to have heard her. "That's pretty hot, hiding a guy in your bedroom."

"It's _not_ like that!" Amu protested.

"Yeah, right," Amaya said unbelievingly, with a small laugh.

"It's _not_!"

"Okay," said Amaya. She still didn't sound like she believed Amu.

Amu went to the bathroom to get his toothbrush and other stuff, though mostly she wanted to avoid having Amaya see her blushing. She looked at herself in the mirror to see that her face was bright red. Why was she blushing so much? It _wasn't_ like that! She had nothing to be embarrassed about. Ikuto needed a place to stay and she was helping. That's all.

As Amu searched for his stuff she found that it was all in one of those waterproof bags people use for their toiletries. She grabbed it and stuffed it into the sports bag.

She walked around the room looking for anything else Ikuto might need. She opened his closet and looked inside. At the very back she found a black case. Amu curiously opened it to find a beautiful violin. She gasped it awe. It was so pretty! And who would've thought Ikuto played the violin? She closed the case and slung it over her back. She also found his school backpack and filled it up with his school books and his laptop. Amaya grabbed the backpack from her and put it on her back.

"Is there anything else he needs?" Amu wondered aloud.

"How about underwear?" Amaya asked.

"H-huh?" Amu stuttered.

"Did you grab any?"

"Well, no..." she replied. "But I can't go digging around in his underwear! That's just weird!"

"You can't expect him to not change his underwear the whole time he's with you, can you?" Amaya asked, laughing slightly.

"No. But I can't go through his underwear either! And stop laughing, it's not funny!" Amu hissed.

"Relax Amu. It's just underwear, it won't kill you," said Amaya.

Amu continued to hesitate. If Ikuto knew that she'd gone through his underwear he'd call her a pervert.

"Oh fine, I'll do it," Amaya sighed.

Amu turned around so that she couldn't see anything Amaya was doing.

"Okay, it's done," said Amaya as she zipped up the bag.

Amu grabbed the sports bag and the two headed downstairs. Ikuto's father was still spouting out curse words, and Chiyo was still forcing him to stay on the floor by pushing her foot down onto his back.

"Did you get what you needed?" Miyuko asked.

"Yup," Amu answered.

"As soon as you leave I'm going to call the police and all four of you will get sent to jail!" yelled Ikuto's father.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, because then I'd have to tell the police why I came here in the first place. And believe me, you'll be sent to jail for a lot longer than we will," Amu threatened. He just glared up at her in response.

Suddenly they heard sirens approaching from outside.

"Someone must've called the police. Come on, let's leave through the back," said Amaya. She shoved open the sliding glass door in the back and ran through. Miyuko, Chiyo, and Kame followed her.

"Remember what I said," Amu called back to him as they left.

Amu stopped in front of the door to her house. Neither her mom nor Rito should be here because they're both normally gone at this time during the weekends. They were either going somewhere with Ami, shopping, or putting in some extra work. It was never definite though, sometimes they stayed. She debated risking going through the front door, or trying to haul all this stuff up onto her balcony. Amu went through the door, knowing that there was no way she would be able to get all of Ikuto's stuff up otherwise.

She quietly unlocked the door and stepped inside. She didn't hear any noises, which was a good sign. Amu closed the door and hurried upstairs to her room.

"Amu!" Ikuto said in both shock and relief as she came in. He was still lying in her bed.

"Hey!" She responded, and laid all of his stuff down on the floor.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay?" He questioned as he slowly sat up straight on the bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See, I told you it'd be easy-peasy," she said jokingly.

His relieved expression suddenly turned angry. "I can't _believe_ you went and did that!"

Amu frowned at him. His sudden change in expression shocked her. Why was he angry with her? She was doing him a favour. "What? I'm fine, and nothing went wrong. So it's fine, right?"

"No, it's not _fine_!" He hissed. "What you did was so incredibly stupid!"

"Why are you mad at me?" Amu asked in exasperation. "I was just doing a simple favour."

"It wasn't a simple favour. And I told you _not_ to go!" He retorted.

"Well I'm sorry for trying to help," Amu said sarcastically.

"Goddamn it Amu! Why can't you see that what you did was extremely dangerous?" He yelled.

"I know it was dangerous, but I also knew I could handle it," she said.

"Well you know what, sometimes you _can't_ handle it! You could've gotten hurt!" Ikuto was glaring at her, and his eyes seemed to pierce right into her. They made her feel bad for what she did. But she didn't do anything wrong! She was trying to help! Fine. If he wanted to be mad at her for nothing, then she could be mad at him too.

"Well a lot of thing can hurt people. I'm not going to live my life being afraid every single second about something that _could_ happen!" She responded angrily.

"I'm not saying you have to do that. But you don't have to go out of your way to get yourself hurt!"

"I don't!" She yelled.

"Oh, yeah, because joining a gang was just for what? A little bit of fun? Do you _like_ being in danger or something? Because you keep putting yourself in it, and it's really starting to piss me off!" Ikuto paused, and then turned away from her to face the wall. "I... I can't even look at you right now. You're just making me so mad."

Amu sprinted off into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her and locking it. She sat down on the floor and started to cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she wiped them angrily away. She thought that Ikuto understood her... He didn't understand, which meant that no one did.

Why was he so mad at her anyways? And where did he get off yelling at her like that? She'd had just about enough of it. Ikuto could just go to hell.

She wrapped her arms around herself and cried until she couldn't anymore. Then she sat there and stared at her knees.

Ikuto sat on Amu's bed, going over their argument in his head.

"Crap," he said silently to himself. He'd just gotten hurt to start to trust him, and then he yelled at her and ruined it. What she did was so stupid though! He had been so worried that she'd gotten hurt! And all he could do was sit there and wait. It made him mad.

Amu had run into the bathroom right after their argument. Up until recently he'd been hearing things coming from there that sounded like crying. Had she been crying because he yelled at her? No, she couldn't have, right? There was no way that she would be upset that he was angry at her, was there? In any case he had to try and apologize and make it better.

Ikuto slid painfully off the bed and made his way over to Amu's washroom. He knocked on the door but she didn't answer. He knocked again.

"Amu? Are you okay?" Ikuto asked.

"Ikuto..." He heard from the other side of the door.

"Yeah?"

"Go to hell," she told him.

Ikuto winced. "Amu, I'm sorry. I didn't mean the things I was yelling about. When you left, I had to sit and wait here, doing nothing except hoping that you were alright. It made me mad. I shouldn't have taken it out on you though. You were just trying to help, right? I'm sorry."

"Help? I thought I just liked danger, that I was stupid and suicidal, or something," she said bitterly.

Ikuto let his head fall against the door with a small thud. Could anything he said make this better? "I didn't mean it like that. You go out and do dangerous things a lot, and I worry about you. I'm always worried about you. I don't know what to do about it. I _can't_ do anything about it, or anything to try and protect you. So I get frustrated, and then mad."

"I thought you understood me," Amu whispered.

"I'm trying Amu," he responded. "I'm trying really hard, but you're a girl and therefore very complicated and confusing."

He heard Amu sniffle and a stifled laugh behind the door, and then nothing else. She didn't say anything back to him.

"Should... I go? Do you want me to go?" Ikuto asked.

"No!" Amu exclaimed.

Ikuto sighed in both relief and frustration with Amu. She wouldn't come out of the bathroom, but she didn't want him to leave either. "Amu, if you don't come out I'm going to leave."

"Wait, don't go. Ikuto, you play the violin, right?" Amu asked tentatively.

"Huh?" He said in surprise. He'd never told anyone that he played the violin, so how did she find out?

"I found it in your room," Amu explained. "And I brought it back."

Ikuto realized that he hadn't yet looked at what Amu had brought back from his house. He'd been so wrapped up with worrying about Amu that he'd forgotten about it.

"I'll make you a deal," she offered. "If you play me a song on the violin I'll come out of the bathroom."

Ikuto hesitated. He'd never played for anyone before. No one even _knew_ that he played. "Deal," Ikuto agreed. "But you can't tell anyone about me playing the violin, okay?"

He grabbed his violin case off the top of the pile of his things. He nestled the violin under his chin, took out the bow and drew it across the strings. The sound of the violin resonated through the room. Ikuto closed his eyes and he began to lose himself within the notes. When he opened them again Amu was standing outside the bathroom door watching him. He ended the song and put the violin back in the case.

"That was really pretty," Amu commented.

"Thanks," he said. "I'm glad you came out."

"Does no one know you play the violin?" Amu asked.

"No one knows."

"Why? You play really well," she said.

"I haven't told my friends because playing the violin isn't exactly cool, and I haven't told my mother because..." Ikuto hesitated. Should he tell her? It wasn't like she would tell anyone else. "My father plays the violin. That's why he left, to go touring with an orchestra. This violin is one that he left behind. I thought it might bring back some bad memories for her."

"So why did you start?" she asked.

Ikuto shrugged. "I always used to watch my father play. When he left I found this violin and just started playing."

"Do you miss your father? Or do you talk to him a lot, or visit?"

Ikuto shook his head. "I haven't seen him or talked to him in four years."

"That must be tough," she commented.

Ikuto shrugged. "You may have lost your father, but at least you knew that he loved you. You're dad wanted to be with you. Mine just left."

At first he thought that he might've upset her again, but she just nodded sadly. "Why does life have to be so complicated? So hard? Why can't it be easy? Why can't we be happy all the time, instead of sad? Why can't we just," Amu paused, "be free from it all?"

**Ah! I'm finally done this part! It was so loooong (a bit over 12 pages). ...For me at least. Lol. It may be a little choppy, sorry! I kept writing this part in small bits of free time that I had (like 10-15 minute sections here and there), so I kind of lost track of where I wanted to head with things a couple times. Which is also why I guess it turned out to be really long. Haha! Oh well.**

**Sorry for the wait with this part everyone, but thanks so much for reading! Please review, and make me happy! ^-^**


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